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Dr. Henry Hull 



ANNALS 



OF 



Athens, Georgia 

1801-1901. 



BY 

AUGUSTUS LONGSTREET HULL. 



WITH AN 

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH BY 
DR. HENRY HULL. 



BANNER JOB OFFICE 
1906 



Fas 4 



'7 



/ 



ERRATA. 

Page 47. Transpose last line but one, above last line 

but one on page 48. 
Page 95. In twenty-sixth line after "from the old" 

insert "home". 
Page 97. In twelfth linefor ' 'compress' ' read "campus'' . 
Page 124. In eighth line for "1873" read "1837". 
Page 126. In seventeenth line for "Prussia" read 

"Russia". 
Page 161. In first line for "1815" read "1855". 
Page 221. In eighteenth line for "if" read "it". 
Page 344. In last line but two for "one" read "once". 
Page 358. For "Schlesburg" read "Schleswig". 



Chapter I. 
Selection of site of the University. Descrip- 
tion Easley's reservation. Athens in 1803. 'First 
sale of lots. Early settlers. Houses built in 
1820-30. 

Chapter II. 
Organization of the University. Land values. 
The Tugalo tract. The first Faculty. Old col- 
lege. Plat of Campus. First commencement. 
Programme of 1814. Election of Dr. Waddell. 

Chapter III. 
Dr Wright. Dr. Neisler. Mrs. Lucy Cary. 
Mrs. Dougherty. Mrs. McKigney. Rev. Hope 
Hull. 

Chapter IV. 
Camp meetings. Hull's Meeting House. Trail 
Creek Church. Mrs. Sarah King. Judge Clay- 
ton. Dr. Waddell. Dr. James Tinsley. 

Chapter V. 
Col. John A. Cobb. Thomas Hamilton. James 
Meriwether. Muster day. Cherokee Indians. 
Expected attack. False alarm. 

Chapter VI. 
Samuel Wier. The Teamsters. First cotton. 
Bathing place. Early newspapers. 



IV 

Chapter VII. 
Introduction. Early papers. Advertisements. 
First Missionary Society. President Meigs. 
Trouble with the Trustees. Family incidents. 

Chapter VIII. 
Athens incorporated. Taxes. The town in 
1830. Canebrake on Broad Street. Hotels. 
Athens Academy. Georgia Railroad. Georgia 
Factory. Athens Factory. Princeton Factory. 
Population. 

Chapter IX. 

The tariff. Morning gowns. Dr. Henry Jack- 
son. Stewards Hall. Commons. Old cemetery. 
Cold weather. New college burned. Payment 
of funds by Legislature. College rebuilt. Sam- 
uel Tenney. Rev. Jno. F. Wallis. Albon Chase. 
Thomas Bishop. 

Chapter X. 
Improvements and new citizens. Sam Frost. 
John Howard Payne. The Hardens, The Hill- 
yers. Goneke's Band. Dr. Nathan Hoyt. 

Chapter XL 
Troup and Clarke parties. Clarke men appoint- 
ed Trustees. Public speaking. Defying the U. 
S. Supreme Court. Panic of 1837. Death of 
Oliver H. Prince. May party. Self reliance 
of the people. Old Town Hall. Laws controlling 
slaves. 



Chapter XII. 

John H. Newton. Harrison freshet. Dr. Moses 
Waddell. College military. 

Chapter XIII. 

Georgia Railroad. Night trains discontinued. 
Building in Cobbham. Sale of Broad Street lots. 
Sale of lots on Jackson and Lumpkin Streets. 
New hotels and churches. Nathan Holbrook. 
Building on Hancock Avenue. New houb€» on 
Prince Avenue. 

Chapter XIV. 

A wedding in 1842. John Kirkpatrick. Wil- 
Ham L. Mitchell. Elizur L. Newton. Dr. Ed- 
ward R. Ware. 

Chapter XV. 

Confectioners. Streets and locations. T. Addi- 
son Richards. May Party at W. C. Richards 
school. Dancing school. French boarding 
house. Dr. Ward. Botanical Garden. John 
Jacobns Flournoy. Judge O. A. Lochrane. 

Chapter XVI. 
■ Madame Gouvain. Mr. Linebaugh. W. H. 
Dorsey. Old Billy Nabers. 

Chapter XVII. 

Sale of lots on Milledge Avenue. Gas Works. 
The Haunted House. Drowning of Frank Bryan. 
Athens Foundry. Fire Companies. Presbyterian, 
Baptist and Episcopal churches. Dr. Henderson. 
Oconee Cemetery. Public amusements in the 
Town Hall. 



VI 

Chapter XVTII. 
Commencement day. The Toombs oak. Hog 
killing time. The old plantation. The Dericott 
negroes. Billy and Davy. Other negroes. 
Chapter XIX. 
Independence of Athenians. Boys schools. 
Miss Emily Witherspoon. Girls school. Lucv^ 
Cobb Institute. Dr. Alonzo Church. Mrs. Le 
Conte and Mrs. Craig. 

Chapter XX. 
Professor McCay. Professors LeConte, Broun 
Brown and Venable. Dr. Brantley. 
Chapter XXI. 
Richard Malcolm Johnston. Col. John Billups. 
Joseph Henry Lumpkin. Wilson Lumpkin. Dr. 
Richard D. Moore. Mrs. Gully. Joe Keno. 
Chapter XXII. 
Asbury Hull. Dr. Henry Hull. G. W. Barber. 
Howell Cobb. Thomas R. R. Cobb. 

Chapter XXIII. 
Military companies. Georgia Guards. Wm. 
E. Jones. Gen. Burwell Pope. Ben Perley 
Poore. Clarke Cavalry. Athens Guards. Troup 
Artillery. Captain Lombard. A. A. Franklin Hill 
Chapter XXIV. 
The Abolitionists. Election of Mr. Lincoln. 
Suspicious characters. Thos. R. R. Cobb's speech. 
Secession Convention. Secession of Georgia. 
Chapter XXV. 
Athens in the Provisional Congress. Belief 



Vll 

that there would be no war. Confederate Flag. 
Supplies furnished to soldiers. Subscription to 
loan. 

Chapter XXVI. 

Troup Artillery. Leaving Athens. In Vir- 
ginia. Casualties and losses in battle. Survivors. 
Tugalo Blues. Banks County Guards. 
Chapter XXVII. 

Athens Guards. Casualties and losses in bat- 
tle. Clarke County Rifles. Casualties and bat- 
tles. 

Chapter XXVIII. 

Georgia Troopers. Cobb's Legion Cavalry. 
Battles and casualties. Capt. J. E. Ritch's com- 
pany. Mell Rifles. Camak's company. Losses. 
Chapter XXIX. 

Johnson Guards. Battles. Losses and casual- 
ties. Highland Guards. Major Grady. Losses 
in battle. 

Chapter XXX. 

Home Guards companies. Lumpkin's Battery. 
Oconee Rangers. Gen. Horace Capron at 
Princeton. Lipscomb Volunteers. Other volun- 
teers. 

Chapter XXXI. 

Table of casualties. Percentage of losses. 
Officers from Athens. Cobb's Legion. Cobb's 
Brigade at Crampton's Gap. At Fredericksburg. 
Troup Artillery. Dick Saye. Cobb Legion Cav- 
alry at Brandy Station. Willie Church. Colonel 
Deloney. 



VI n 

Chapter XXXII. 

Professor Wash. Willie Chase. Major 
Grady. Gen. M. L. Smith. At New Orleans. 
Defense of Vicksburg. Attack on Hancock. 
Lines at Spottsylvania. 

Chapter XXXIII. 

Athenians at home. Hard times. Ladies' Aid 
Society. Major Ferdinand Cook. Georgia 
Rangers. Davis Light Guards. Mob law. Hang- 
ing of a negro. News from the front. Resource^ 
at home. Substitutes for necessities. War time 
prices. 

Chapter XXXIV. 
Refugees. Entertainments. Fall of Chatta 
nooga. Camping around Rome and Savannah. 
Col. Andrew Young and Mrs. Dr. Orr. Stone- 
man's Raiders. Yankee prisoners. A bomb 
proof skulker. Gen. A. W. Reynolds. 

Chapter XXXV. 
The Mitchell Thunderbolts. 

Chapter XXXVI. 
The double barrelled cannon. The tree wh^'ch 
owns itself. The fire engine which was burned. 

Chapter XXXVII. 
The ante-bellum negro slave. At home aiid on 
the plantation. Their fidelity. Aunt Betty. 
Drifted away. 

Chapter XXXVIII. 
Peace. The return home. A view of Athens 



IX 

in 1865. Raid on the commissary stores. Feder- 
al cavalry invade Athens, and rob and phnidir. 
Letter from Mrs. Mell. 

Chapter XXXIX. 
Federal garrison. Penalties for negroes. 
Forty acres and a mule. The ladies and the 
Yankees. Proclamation of Provost Marshal. 
Jim Saye and the Major. Attack on George 
Mason. Campus evacuated. Confederate ar- 
chives. Ed Talmage killed. Small pox. John 
Yarborough. Cotton. National Bank. Circus. 
Schools. College opens. 

Cpiapter XL. 
Broad Street in 1866. Deputy Marshal Shir- 
ley. Old Grady house. Merchants. Town 
Spring. The streets and sidewalks. Bathing 
places. Cobbham. The reaction. Memorial 
Day. Revival in religion and business. Deaths. 
Reconstruction. Mat Davis. 

Chapter XLL 

Ku Klux Klan. Killing of Alf Richardson. 
The Ku Klux and Myer Stern. Albert Cox's 
speech. Gen. Pope's order. The military sat- 
raps. Tom Frierson and Knox. 
Chapter XLIL 

Sales of real estate. Taxable property. Build- 
ing the Deupree block. Henry Hull, Jr. Death 
of Howell Cobb. Wm. Hope Hull, L. J. Lamp- 
kin. F. W. Adams. St. Marv's Church. 



Chapter XLIII. 

Southern Cultivator. Wheat Club. John A. 
Meeker's farm and failure. Turnip greens on the 
Campus. Tournament en cheval. Crowning the 
Queen. 

Chapter XLIV. 

Ladies Memorial Association. Street Railroad. 
Moore College. M. B. McGinty. Early prayers 
abolished. Prof. Wash. Athens Guards. Clubs. 
Richard Schevenell. Town ball. Foot ball. 
Babe Crane. Base ball. 

Chapter XLV. 

Pioneer Hook and Ladder. Christening trucks. 
Circus and shows. Breaking dirt for North 
Eastern Rairoad. Ferro Lithic Spring. N. E. 
R. R. Changes by railroads. The big gully. 
Chapter XLVL 

Northeast Georgia County fair. A duel. Sales 
of real estate. Mayor King. W. C. Kemp. Long 
Goody Smith. W. T. Stark. Barry & Hughes 
P. Weil. Shoe factory. 

Chapter XLVH. 

Lucy Cobb Institute. The girls — and the b<3ys. 
May party. Managements. Miss Rutherford. 
Mrs. Lipscomb. First of April frolic. Commence- 
ments. Mr. Seney and the Chapel. 
Chapter XLVHL 

Athens Laundry. Monday meetings. Amiise- 
ments. Old College rules. A dance in 1832. 
Theatricals. Burlesque May party by college 
boys. Amateur plays. Parties. A big cake. 



Chapter XLIX. 
Dr. Crawford W. Long. Mr. Henry L. Stuart. 
John D. Diometari. Peter A. Sumney. L. Flisch. 
Chapter L. 
Hanging in Clark County. University High 
School. Mr. Carroll. Col. L. H. Charbonnier. 
University farm. Normal School. Capt. S. D. 
Brad well. 

Chapter LI. 
Home School. Madame Sosnowski. Albin 
P. Bearing. Dr. Jos. B. Carlton. Dr. R. M. 
Smith. William McDowell. Moses Myers. G. 
Jacobs. Casper Morris. Professor Halwick. 

Chapter LH. 
Athens Street Railway. Texas mules. Electric 
line. Cotton mills. Georgia Factory. Princeton 
Factory. Athens Manufacturing Company. Pub- 
lic spirited citizens. Ferdinand Phinizy. Young 
L. G. Harris. Dr. John S. Linton. 
Chapter LHL 
Public schools. Factory building. E. C. J Bran- 
son. The Athens bar. S. P. Thurmond. George 
D, Thomas. Successful business men. 
Chapter LIV. 
Chancellor A. A. Lipscomb, Chancellor Tuck- 
er. Chancellor Mell. Chancellor Bogg's Ad- 
ministration. Chancellor Hill. 
Chapter LV. 
Prof. W. H. Waddell, Gen. W. M. Browne, 
Dr. W. L. Jones, Prof. Charles Morris, Prof. 



Xll 

Williams Rutherford, Prof. C. P. Willcox. Death 
of Walter Rountree. 

Chapter LVL 

Rev. C. W. Lane, Dr. John Gerdine, Rev. 
Ellison D. Stone, Politics in Athens, Troup and 
Clarke Parties, Whigs and Democrats, Election 
for Governor in 1866, For Mayor in 1872, The 
Negro Politician. Emory Speer. Speer and Cand- 
ler Campaign. 

Chapter LVII. 

Cleveland's election. Torchlight procession. 
Prohibition carried. Blind tigers. Revolution of 
sentiment. The dispensary. No fence law. 
Chapter LVIII. 

Visit of Mrs. Hayes and Winnie Davis. 
Skiff, the Jeweler. Spot and Buckskin. Meteor- 
ology. The flood. Capt. H. H. Carlton. Sena- 
tor Pope Barrow. Dr. E. W. Speer. F. W. Lu- 
cas. A. K. Childs. 

Chapter LIX. 

Northern men. Water Works. Volunteers 
in the war with Spain. Oates' Brigade in Camp. 
Col. W. A. Krepps. Sham battle. 

Chapter LX. 
Oratorios. Reaves Warehouse Co.. J. A. 
Benedict. College students. Old citizens. Liv- 
ing Athenians. Femina Atheniensis. Hotels. 

GENEALOGIES. 

SOME MARRIAGES OF ATHENS PEOPLE 

INDEX. 



In offering these sketches in their present 
shape, it would be proper for the Editor to say 
that they were for the most part first published 
in the Southern Watchman in 1879, but having- 
been written "to while away in idle hour," no re- 
gard was had to arrangement of subjects or con- 
secutiveness of details. 

It was therefore the task and pleasure of the 
Editor to arrange them more systematically in 
point of time and subject, including some sketch- 
es hitherto unpublished, and present them in a 
more permanent form than as newspaper contri- 
butions. 

To none who knew Dr. Hull need it be 
told, that for seventy-eight years he lived in Ath- 
ens, a part of that time sustaining towards many 
in the community, the intimate relations of a fam- 
ily physician, and known and respected by all. 
The people of the city, he has known for genera- 
tions back, and no one perhaps was so well fitted 
as he to write the annals of the place. Unfor- 
tunately, the sketches do not extend later than 
_l825. There is no pretense of completeness in 
this work as a History of Athens for the time; 
but it consists of personal observations of the 
writer, coupled with well authenticated traditions 



XIV 

of the place. Many things of interest and valus, 
were he yet aUve, might the writer add from a 
memory green and mind well stored with fact 
and fancy. Perhaps some other hand tremuloi^s 
with age will take up the thread and weave the 
story out. 

A. L. H. 
Athens, Ga., January, 1884. 



Annals nf Atlj^ns, ^wrgta. 

CHAPTER I. 
In the year 1801 the Senatus Academiciis, 
composed of the Governor, the State Senate ami 
the Board of Trustees of the University of Geor- 
gia, being stirred to action by pubHc complaints 
of their neglect of that institution, which had 
hitherto existed only on paper, met at Louisville, 
the then Capital of the State, and appointed a 
committee to select a site in Jackson County for 
its location. The Committee consisting of John 
Milledge, Abram Baldwin, George Walton, John 
Twiggs and Hugh Lawson, in the latter part of 
June, of that year, met at Billups' Tavern — on the 
Lexington road — and thence made tours of in- 
spection to various locations. The Augusta 
Chronicle, of July 20th, 1801, tells us thaL "the 
Committee repaired to the county of Jackson and 
p'-oceeded with attention and deliberation to ex- 
c.mine a number of situations as well upon th^^ 
tracts belonging tu tVie University as upon others 
of private individuals. Having completed their 
views, they proceeded by ballot to make the 
choice, when the vote was unanimous in favor 
of a place belonging to Mr. Daniel Easley, at 
the Cedar Shoals, upon the North Fork of the 



Oconee River, and the same was resolved to be 
selected and chosen for the seat of the University 
of Georgia. For this purpose the tract contain- 
ing 633 acres was purchased of Mr. Easley by 
Mr. Milledge, one of the Committee, and made 
a donation of to the Trustees, and it was called 
Athens. 

"The river at Athens is about 150 feet broad ; 
its waters rapid in their descent and has no low- 
grounds. The site of the University is on the 
South side and a half mile from the river. About 
200 yards from the site, and 300 feet above the 
river, in the midst of an extensive bed of rock 
issues a copious spring of excellent water, and 
in its meanderings to the river several others 
are discovered. On the place is a new well built 
framed dwelling house, entirely equal to the ac- 
commodation of the President and his family. 
There is also another new house equal to a tem- 
porary schoolroom. The square of the Univer- 
sity containing 365^ acres is laid off so as to 
comprehend the site, the houses and the spring. 
A street is laid off upon the northern line of the 
square adjoining a village of lots in that direc- 
tion. Besides the spring in the square, which is 
convenient to the village, there is one in the 
street and another back of the lots. Near Ath- 
ens, Mr. Easley has an excellent flour mill, 
a saw and common grist mill, with intention to 
add a cotton machine. To drive these, the rapids 



opposite Athens are slightly dammed so as the 
ordinary supply of the river neither increases nor 
diminishes the size of the pond. Besides the 
lesser fish of fresh waters, the shad in their 
season, ascend the river as high as Athens in 
great perfection." 

The area purchased by Gov. Milledge, ex- 
tended from a point at the head of Cemetery 
Street along Baldwin west to Pope Street, thence 
to Vonderlieth's vineyard, thence out to Mrs. 
Hudgin's, thence in a long broken line northward 
far across Prince Avenue and eastward to the 
river. Mr. Daniel Easley reserved a portion of 
the tract, bounded by a line beginning at a point 
on the river a little below the upper bridge, run- 
ning thence to a point not far from Mrs. Dorsey''^ 
house, thence between Mr. E. R. Hodgson's* and 
the Town Spring, across the spring branch, 
thence to the point on Baldwin Street above the 
Factory. This reservation he sold in lots, of 
shapes and sizes to suit the tastes and purposes 
of purchasers, securing to himself the right to 
keep up his mill-dam and a toll bridge. He 
owned most of the land about Athens, on both 
sides of the river. He built and lived in the 



Note — The reader will bear in mind that these sketches were 
written thirty-five years ago, since which time many changes of 
residence have taken place. A. L,. H. 

*This house is still standing on Oconee Street just below the cot- 
ton warehouse. 



Hodgson house till he sold it to my father, Rev. 
Hope Hull, in 1803, after which he moved across 
the river. 

My earliest recollections of Athens date from 
the year 1803. I well remember when my fath- 
er, with his family, a few servants and household 
goods stopped at this house — how interested I 
was in a flock of goats which were browsing on 
the opposite hillside. The most thickly settled 
portion of the village then was between our house 
and the river. There were two so-called stores, 
one on the lot adjoining ours, kept by a Mr. 
Black, and the other immediately opposite by 
Capt. Warham Easley, while cake shops, grog 
shops, a blacksmith and tailor shop, with cabins 
and shanties, occupied the space to the river. 
This was the village referred to in the Augusta 
Chronicle. 

The Old College was just completed and was 
occupied by a few students. The President's 
house — a story and a half— the same mentioned 
in the extract quoted above, stood where Dr. 
Mell's house is, and the other new house which 
was "equal to a tempoary schoolroom" — a single 
room 20 feet square with a chimney at one end, 
an unglazed window in the other, and a door in 
each side — stood about the site of the Phi-Kappa 
Hall. The Grammar School was near the Chan- 
cellor's house, and these were all the buildings 
on the Campus at the time. 



The tract given by Gov. Milledge was laid off 
in lots and streets, beginning at Mrs. Dorsey'o 
lot, which was No. i, and extending to Mrs. 
Blanton Hill's. t These lots were offered for 
sale by the Trustees, each square containing two 
acres, except those between College Avenue and 
Jackson Streets, which were one acre each. The 
first lots sold were those comprised in the parallel- 
ogram bounded on Foundry, Broad, Hull Streets 
and Hancock Avenue. 

No. I, the Dorsey lot, was sold to Major Fer- 
dinand Phinizy for $102. 

No. 2, the Reaves block, was sold to Major 
McKigney. 

No. 3 Deupree block, was sold to Stevens and 
Jett Thomas. 

No. 4, Barry block, was sold to Mr. Thurmond. 

No. 5, Bank block, was sold to Mr. Wright. 

No. 6, Hotel block, was sold to Mr. Martin 
for $150. 

No. 7, Mrs. Deloney's lot, was sold to David 
Allen. 

No. 8, Henderson lot, was sold to Dr. Josiah 
Meigs for $90. 

Nos. 9, 10 and 11, From Hull Street to Pulaski 
Street, to Major Phinizy for $200. 

Nos. 12, 13 and 14, From Pulaski to Hull 
Street, to Jas. E. Morris for $121. 



tOn Pulaski Street. 



No. 15, Mrs. Mathews' square, to David Allen 
for $50. 

No. 16, From Lumpkin Street, half way the 
square, to Allen for $70. 

No. 17, East half the square to College Avenue 
for $100. 

No. 18, Between College Avenue and Jackson 
Street, to Addin Lewis. 

No. 10, The old bank lot, to Dr. Cowan for 
$105. 

No. 20, The Clayton lot, to Mr. Hayes. 

Nos. 31 and 22, Between Thomas and Foundry 
Street, to Capt. Cary for $60. 

An old deed from President Brown to Mrs. 
Lucy Cary dated in, 181 1 to half of Dr. Hull's 
lot for $3 1, shows that Hancock Avenue was at 
that time called Green Street, and Dougherty 
Street was Walton Street, while Thomas Street 
was designated as "Alley No. 2.' 

From 1803 to 18 10 the town grew apace. On 
Mrs. Dorsey's lot stood a storehouse, with a 
small dwelling attached, belonging to Major 
Ferdinand Phinizy, of Augusta. On the adjoin- 
ing lot, westward, was a story and a half hewn 
log house, the only hotel in the village. It com- 
prised two rooms with a passage between and a 
shed with two or three bedrooms on the first 
floor, as many on the second, and a piazza in 
front. It was kept by Capt. John Cary. Next 



to that was the store of Mr. Stevens Thomas, 
near the present Georgia Railroad Agency.* He 
was the principal merchant in the place, and for 
a long time the only worthy the name. About 
the time of which I write, he married and built 
the house on the same lot recently taken down 
by Judge Deupree. It was then the most stylish 
house in the place, and there his children were 
born, there he accumulated his large fortune and 
there died. 

Two or three little shanties stood on the lot 
where Capt. Barry's stores are, but I do not re- 
member their uses. On the site of the National 
Bank there stood a little Doctor's shop, about 
J. ox 1 2 feet, which with a small dwelling, op" 
posite Dr. Smith's,t were the only buildings on the 
square. The square and houses were owned by 
Dr. Wright, the first village doctor. Still going 
westward, we find no houses on Broad street, 
until we reach Mrs. Deloney's — now greatly al- 
tered and enlarged. That was built by an Eng- 
lishman, named Allen, whose daughter, Miss 
Harriet, taught in that house the first female 
school established in Athens. Old Mr. Allen was 
a quiet, retiring gentleman and considered the 
highest authority on all questions of taste and 
horticulture. 



*North side Broad Street, between Thomas and Wall Streets, 
ton Clayton Street. 



We have now reached Lumpkin Street, the 
extreme western hmits of Athens, as it was in 
1810. On Thomas Street stood only two houses. 
Where Dr. HuUi" hves was a log cabin, built by 
Rev. John Hodge ; the other a more pretentious 
hewn log house near where Dr. Moore's office 
stands, was occupied by Mrs. Lucy Gary. This 
continued to be habitable until Mr. William 
Dearing, the last occupant, removed it to make 
way for Dr. Moore's house.* On Clayton 
Street there were only two residences — one Dr. 
Wright's, already mentioned ; the other now 
owned by Dr. R. M. Smith was built a little later 
than Mr. Stevens Thomas' on Broad Street, and 
these two of the same order of architecture were 
the handsomest in the town. Dr. Smith's house 
was built by Addin Lewis, who came fjom 
Connecticut with President Meigs, and was for 
some years the only Professor in the College. 
Lewis was appointed Collector of the Port at 
Mobile by Wm. H. Crawford, when Secretary 
of the Treasury, and was in office when General 
Jackson was elected President. He was a warm 
political and personal friend of Mr. Crawford, 
and particularly friendly to General Jackson's 
administration. He received a communication 
from Washington City, calling for information 



tW. B. Jackson's on Thomas Street. 
*R. K. Reaves' on Thomas Street. 



on several matters of importance to the Govern- 
ment, in which was this question, "How far doei 
the Alabama River run up into the State?" 
Lewis replied to this question, "The Alabama 
River does not run itp at all ; it runs doivn:' 
In a short time his successor was appointed. 

Col. Isaac Wilkerson's house* stands on the 
Kasley reservation. It was originally a verv 
pretty cottage, built by a French gentleman, 
named Gouvain, and the grounds around it were 
filled with ornamental trees and beautiful shrub- 
bery. It was altogether the most attractive spot 
in the town and made additionally so by the 
presence of Monsieur Gouvain's two beautiful 
nieces, who with their mother, Madame Taney 
lived with him. The place presents none of its 
former beauty. The original cottage has been 
added to and built around, and the shrubbery 
and trees have been so destroyed that it would 
be difficult now to imagine what a pretty place 
it was sixty-five years ago. For a long time in 
later years it was the home of that venerable 
and venerated lady Katherine Newton, relict of 
Rev. John Newton, who if not the first Presby- 
terian preacher in Georgia, was the first settled 
pastor. 

Of a different family, was the old Newton, 



*This house was situated near the Ga. R. R. depot until the latter 
was built. 



10 

who lived where Dr. Ware'st house now stands, 
and who had the only turning lathe within miles 
of Athens. All north of Hancock Avenue was 
a dense forest. The boys used to go to old 
Newton's for tops, and it was considered a mile 
or two in the country. It took at least half a day 
to go, to get a top and return. It is true we 
had often to wait for the tops to be turned and 
then had to spin them all the way back. 

The next house in point of time, if I remember 
aright, was the one where Dr. Cicero Holt now 
lives. t It was built by Judge Clayton, on the 
corner occupied by Mrs. Pope. It fronted on 
Washington Street, and after maintaining its 
ground for thirty years or more was removed 
to its present site. Judge Clayton sold it to 
Mrs. Farrar after he had built and removed to 
the home which served him the remainder of his 
life and where his venerable widow still lives.* 
This was originally a small house with two 
rooms below and as many above stairs, and 
stood near the lower bridge, where the Factory 
boarding house is now. It was owned and oc- 
cupied then by a Mr. Brockman and was the 
first cmporiuiii of fashion in Athens; but Eas- 
ley's reservation being deserted for the more 
fashionable west end, and Wm. H. Hunt, having 



tDr. l,yndon's. 

JWhere the Government Building now stands. 

*This house recently stood next the Moss Warehouse 



11 

established a more modern emporium on what is 
now the Newton House corner, Brockman gave 
up the contest and moved to parts unknown. 
Judge Clayton then bought his house and re- 
moved it to his lot, setting it upon brick pillars 
and adding the wings and shed rooms. 

About 1812, Capt. Gary sold his "Hotel" on 
Broad Street to Major McKigney and built a 
three story house on Mr. Summey's square. i^ 
It was a little back of Mr. Childs' house and be- 
tween that and Mr. Summey's. The entrance 
was from Clayton Street, and the present front 
yards of these gentlemen were the gardens, floral 
and vegetable. For many years it was the fash- 
ionable boarding house, and there all the fourth 
of July dinners, society anniversaries and com- 
mencement balls were held. It was sold to Mr. 
John Nisbet, who divided the square, putting ud 
Mr. Summey's house on one-half and leaving 
the old tenement to go to ruin. This was known 
as the Szvinging Limb and became the lodging 
place of rats and bats, old bachelors and similar 
disreputable characters. Subsequently, Mr. Jacob 
Phinizy bought the lot and built Mr. Childs" 
house, leaving no vestige of the Siviiigiiig Limb 
to remind one of its existence. 

Prior to 1820 there were no improvements 
west of Lumpkin Street. The Jefferson Road 



tEast side of Thomas Street between Clayton and Washington. 



12 

left College Avenue near Dr. Henry Carlton's 
office* and passed through the lots of Messrs. 
John H. Newton, Lewis Lampkin, the Methodist 
Church, Thomas Crawford and Mrs. Harden's 
to Prince Avenue, which is the Jefferson Road 
from time immemorial. All that part of the 
town was in woods, not a stick amiss, except a 
cabin about where Mrs. Blanton Hill's Mouse 
stands, built by Col. Thaddeus Holt, in which 
his five sons kept bachelor's hall whilst they were 
students in the University, and a small house on 
the corner of Mrs. Vincent's lot, built in 1819. 
The house of Mr. Jonathan Hampton't was oc- 
cupied at that time by a Mrs. Jones, whose two 
daughters and nieces made it a most delightful 
place to spend an evening. But this was in the 
country and never a town lot. These with Dr. 
Hull's comprised all of the houses west of Col- 
lege Avenue and north of Hancock Avenue, 
within a mile of the College. 

The first building of any note after this time 
was the Dougherty place, built by Col. Nicholas 
Ware, one of the Board of Trustees and a mem- 
ber of Congress. He had four sons to be edu- 
cated and moved to Athens for that purpose, but 
died a few months afterwards. That lot was 
considered the first choice of all and was held at 
the highest price for town lots. I cannot remem - 



*Hodgson building opposite Southern Mutual office, 
tj. P. Fears' house on N. Lumpkin Street. 



13 



ber the order in which houses were built after 
this. 

The brightening prospects of the University 
and a growing desire to educate their children 
brought many substantial families to increase 
the population. There was a great demand for 
carpenters and building material, and a live 
Yankee named Peck, from Vermont with three 
of four sons and several kinsmen, all active car- 
penters, were imported, who astonished the na- 
tives by the rapidity of their work. They built 
Mr. John H. Newton's and the Dougherty 
houses and the Methodist Church as it first 
stood. They built Col. Hardeman's house for. 
Dr. Church, and Mr. Jas. R. Carlton's for Wil-I 
liam Moore — (one of Gov. Gilmer's Broad River 
folks in the Georgians.) Other houses were 
erected at the same time ; Mrs. Turner's for Dr. 
Jas. Nisbet, Mr. Weatherly's for Moses Dobbins, 
long the Rector of the Grammar School. The 
house which Dr. Ware replaced with his hand- 
some residence, was built for Mr. Ebenezer New- 
ton, Major Lamar Cobb's for Mr. Alfred Nis- 
bet, Mrs. Vincent's for Mr. Hancock, Mrs. Bay- 
non's for Wright Rogers, Mrs. Adams' for Mrs. 
Foster, Mrs. Bradford's for Dr. King from 
Greene county, Mr. Thos. Crawford's for John 
Bird, Judge Hillyer's for Dr. A. B. Linton, 
and Mr. F. W. Lucas' for Mr. John Nisbet. 

Andrew Graham, from North Carolina, erected 



14 

what was then the largest store in town, on the 
National Bank corner and became the first se- 
rious rival of Mr. Thomas for public patronage. 
The piazza in front of his store became the City 
Exchange where all classes of citizens assem- 
bled to discuss the affairs of the nation, state, 
town and college or talk politics, religion, philoso- 
phy and farming. Graham's was the place to 
go to if you wished to meet company in general 
or see any one in particular. Mr. Graham was a 
fat amiable old bachelor weighing about 350 
lbs. He prospered in business and bought the 
house and lot now owned by Dr. R. M. Smith, 
but in a few years died of apoplexy. 

Mr. Peyton Moore's house was built by Mr. 
Paul Coalson, a graduate of 1822. Mr. Wiley 
Sledge, still remarkable at the age of 86 for his 
strength and activity, made the first improvement 
on Gen. Frierson's lot. On the same square, 
corner of Dougherty and Thomas Streets, a small 
house was built by Osborne Gathright, a Vir- 
I ginian, a jack at all trades and certainly good 
at none. He could make a wagon or a wheel- 
barrow, build a house and paint it. His main 
trade was cabinet making, and he boasted of 
his capacity as a millwright. I have no doubt 
he would have undertaken to build a cotton fac- 
tory if called upon, but unfortunately for his 
reputation his works generally fell to piece"! be- 
fore much use could be made of them. He was 



15 



patient under any amount of abuse. Major 
Walker once said to him "Gathright, you are a 
worthless, lying puppy !" "Never mind Major," 
said Gathright, "you will be sorry for that when 
I get to be the most popular man in town." 
He sued a citizen in a Magistrate's court, who 
offered some notes of the plaintiff as an offset. 
"May it please your honor," said Gath, pleading 
his own case "let him offer these notes, and he 
can't get a man in Athens to give a red oent 
for them, and there's no justice in making me 
take notes in payment of a just debt which no 
other man would have.' 

The house across Thomas Street was built 
by Capt. Wm. B. Taylor for a kitchen ; the Cap- 
tain came to Athens from Richmond, Va., labor- 
ing under the hallucination, common to most 
Virginians of that day, that simply coming to 
Georgia would make them rich, and the first 
thing they did was to make arrangements to 
spend the money they expected to come into 
their hands. Capt. Taylor, a good and amiable 
man, like many others, was disappointed in his 
coming funds and never built his projected pala- 
tial residence. He lived in his kitchen as long 
as means enabled him, then sold his lot, and the 
kitchen remains to this day. 

The Female Academy lot was given by the 
Trustees of the University, and the title confirm- 
ed by Legislative grant, to the Trustees of the 



16 



Academy. The house was built by private con- 
tribution. The house occupied by Mrs. Sparks 
was buih by Prof. Jno. R. Golding ; Dr. Hoyt's 
house by Mrs. Baldwin, Capt. Barry's, Mr. 
Scudder's and the Coppee houses were all built 
by Dr. Tinsley. 

The late Mrs. Hodgson's house, below the 
carriage shops, was first the home of Sterling 
Lane, son of old Jonathan Lane, one of the first 
white men living west of the Oconee River. 
Sterling Lane was a young man of fine promise. 
He read law with Mr. Upson, of Lexington, 
and was admitted to the bar, but preferred com- 
merce to the law and after building a home and 
a prosperous business died in 1820 of typhus 
fever, universally regretted. His father planted 
the large cedars in the yard when they were 
mere switches. Mr. William Lumpkin after- 
wards bought the house and lived there for many 
years. 

CHAPTER H. 

For a quarter of a century at least, the inter- 
ests of Athens and of the University went hand 
in hand- — they rose or fell together. Indeed one 
was nothing without the other. 

The University of Georgia had its legal con- 
ception in an act of the Legislature, approved 
February 25, 1784, the intention of which pri- 
marily was to lay out amid the virgin forests of 
the State two counties, Washington and Frank- 



17 



liii ; the one extending from the hne of Richmond 
and Wilkes to the Oconee river, and the other 
from Wilkes to the Cherokee Nation, between the 
Oconee and the Keowee Rivers. 

A section of that act provides : "And whereas 
the encouragement of religion and learning is 
an object of great importance to any community, 
and must tend to the prosperity, happiness and 
advantage of the same, Be it therefore enacted, 
etc., that the County Surveyors immediately af- 
ter the passing of this act shall proceed to lay out 
in each county twenty thousand acres of land o* 
the first quality in separate tracts of five thousand 
acres each for the endowment of a College or 
seminary of learning, and which said lands shall 
be vested in and granted in trust to his honor 
the Governor, for the time being, and John Hous- 
ton, James Habersham, William Few, Joseph 
Clay, Abraham Baldwin, William Houston, 
Nathan Brownson, and their successors in office, 
who are hereby nominated and appointed Trus- 
tees for the said College or seminary of learn- 
ing and empowered to do all such things as to 
them shall appear requisite and necessary to for- 
ward the establishment and progress of the 
same." 

In pursuance whereof the eight tracts were 
laid out which are now included in the counties 
of Hancock, Oglethorpe, Greene, Clarke, Jack- 
son and Franklin and still another across the 



Savannah river in the State of South Carohija, 
which will be treated hereafter. These tracts 
were known as the Fishing and the Falling; 
Creek tracts in Oglethorpe, the Richland Creek 
tract in Greene, the Sandy Creek tract in Clarke, 
the Shoal Creek tract in Franklin, the Shoulder- 
bone tract in Hancock and the Keowee tract in 
South Carolina. 

The following year, 1785, a bill was introduced 
to complete the establishment of a "public seat 
of learning," which was approved January 27, 
1785, and constitutes the Charter of the Uni- 
versity of Georgia. 

What was the value of this gift at the time, 
we do not know. When the grants by the State 
were made, there being very much land and a 
very few people in Georgia the 40,000 acres 
could not have been worth very much. Governor 
Wilson Lumpkin, in a letter published in 1859, 
said that his father was the grantee of a large 
tract of land in the middle part of the State ; and 
in 1783, sold 400 acres for a rifle and another 
tract of 400 acres for a saddle horse. If this 
be taken as a criterion, the munificent gift of the 
State when the grant was made, was worth about 
fifty rifles and as many saddle horses. 

But comng out of the war of the Revolution, 
her people impoverished, her commerce des- 
troyed, her resources limited, the State had noth- 
ing else but land, and such as she had she free- 



19 



Iv gave. And though valueless, it may be, then 
the lands afterwards yielded the University a 
permanent fund of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, while the generosity of Governor Milledge 
brought her, first and last, thirty thousand dol- 
lars, and sustained her at sundry times when in 
dire dstress. In recognition of her obligation to 
him. the University has called the chair of ancient 
languages "The Milledge Chair of Ancient Lan- 
guages ;" and in other resolutions, from time to 
time, have the trustees testified their apprecia- 
tion of the gift. 

Reference has been made to the loss of 5,000 
acres in the State of South Carolina., 

The line between Georgia andSouth Carolina 
was the northern bank of the Savannah Ri\er 
at high water, from its mouth to its intersection 
with the 35th parallel of north latitude and where 
it forked, the larger of the two should be consid- 
ered a continuation of the Savannah. Now the 
Tugalo and Seneca formed the first fork from its 
mouth, and it became a question which was the 
larger. It was generally conceded that the 
Seneca was the principal stream and was there- 
fore considered the boundary between the States. 
The lands between the rivers belonged then to 
Georgia, a part of which 5,000 acres bing near 
the junction and very valuable were deeded by 
the State with other tracts to the University. 
This district was represented in the Georgia Leg- 



20 

islature by a Mr. Lane. Subsequent surveys 
prctciuiiiig to be more carefully made determined 
that the Tugalo was the larger river, and it be- 
came the boundry line, thereby losing to the I'ni- 
versity of Georgia her 5,000 valuable acres. 

But our Board of Trustees resolved to make 
an effort to retain it, supposing that such a tract, 
away in the backwoods, remote from any set- 
tlement, when public lands were worrh but lit- 
tle more than the cost of surveying tlieni could 
be of small consideration to a State, appointed 
one of their own body, a lawyer of distinction, to 
wait on the Legislature of South Carolina then 
in session, and ask that the grant to the land 
should be confirmed to the University — not doubt- 
ing that so small a favor would be granted. Col. 
C. was a man of exquisite taste in wines and 
brandies, or as least he thought so. and kept that 
gift in active exercise on all proper occasions and 
sometimes when the occasion was not proper. 
The South Carolinians knew exactly how to en- 
tertain such a man with becoming hospitality. 
There were some members of the Legislature 
who learning the object of the Colonel's visit, and 
desiring to own themselves the land in question, 
determined to prevent the confirmation of the 
grant and succeeded in keeping our delegate in 
such a blissful state of tasting and testing certain 
old and costly liquors that he did not have an op- 
portvinity to present the claims of the University 



21 



until the Legislature adjourned. Before its next 
meeting the lands were sold. 

The income of the University was derived from 
the rents of land granted to it by the state and as 
land was very cheap none but the poorest as a 
rule (and they were poor because they were lazy") 
rented them; consequently the income was small 
and very uncertain. 

Mr. Meigs was appointed president "upon 
examination" at a salary of fifteen hundred dol- 
lars, and four hundred dollars to pay the ex- 
penses of removal to Athens. The following 
year, upon his arrival and introduction to 
the trustees, they directed Mr. Meigs to erect one 
or more log buildings for the college, and request- 
ed him to teach until enough students should at- 
tend to authorize the employment of a tutor. 

The surroundings were unpromising, but notic- 
ing daunted. President Meigs set to work with 
zeal and vigor to organize a school in the 
woods. 

He had a clearing made for the campus, n 
street was laid out, lots were staked off and a 
town projected. Several citizens from other parts 
of the State, among them the Rev. Hope Hull, 
came with their families and settled in the vil- 
lage. 

The Trustees borrowed five thousird dollars 
on a mortgage and thus re-enforced, ordered the 
erection of the brick building which still stands. 



22 



the earliest monument of their efforts, and 
known to every student as "Old College." 

The difficulties of building would now be 
thought almost insurmountable. Lime cost $io 
a cask and nails were proportionately high. Both 
had to be hauled in wagons from Augusta. 
Brick made five miles away cost $7.50 per thou- 
sand and $4 more for laying them. All building 
material was difficult to get and mechanics' labor 
was extremely unreliable. The contract for 
building Old College was let to Captain John 
Billups, at whose "tavern" the Committee had 
met to locate the University. Mr. Easley built 
the president's house ; and the frame school- 
room cost, completed, $1887.27. 

In spite of all difficulties, however, the in- 
stitution grew. In November, 1803, President 
Meigs reported to the board that "three dwelling 
houses, three stores and a number of other valu- 
able buildings have been erected on Front Street. 
The students, citizens and inhabitants of Athens 
have been remarkably healthy during the year, 
and the spring has not failed as to quantity of 
water, but rather increased. The number of 
students has been between thirty and thirty-five. 
Twelve young gentlemen compose the senior 
class. They are pursuing with laudable ambition 
and singular industry a course of reading, study 
and academic exercises, and it is believed by the 
first of May next they will merit the first degree 



23 



usually conferred in all regular collegiate estab- 
lishments. 

In 1803, Hope Hull, Thomas P. Carnes and 
John Clarke were apointed a "Prudential Com- 
mittee" of the trustees, a standing committee 
upon which devolved the duty of acting for the 
Board in case of emergency and of advising with 
the President at all times in the interest of the col- 
lege. 

A Grammar School was established too, with 
Rev. John Hodge as master, who was afterwards 
for a long time the Secretary of the TruMees. 
The grammar school was for many years a valu- 
able adjunct to the college in preparing boys 
for the higher classes. It was the outcome of 
President Meigs' complaint that there were so 
few academies in the State which gave their 
pupils the preparation necessary for admission 
to college — a complaint which may with justice 
be made at the present day. In later years the 
grammar school became unpopular from a cus- 
tom of the faculty sentencing idle and refractory 
students to "three months in the grammar 
school," and in 1829 it was discontinued alto- 
gether. 

A plat of the town and campus, made by Mr. 
Meigs and Mr. Hull, by direction of the Board, 
shows at this time but few houses on the college 
grounds. The Old College, east of that the 
President's house, a storv-and-a-half frame dwell- 



24 



Store I 



FRONT STREET 




Crammar School 



PLAT OF ATHENS AND THE CAMPUS IN 1805. 



ing, which was afterward removed to make 
room for the brick house now standing ; the 
grammar school near the spot now occupied by 
Professor Willcox's house, and another wooden 
building on the present site of the Phi Kappa 
hall, the one spoken of in the Chronicle as "equal 
to a temporary school-room" — a single room 20 



25 



feet square, with a chimney at one end, an un- 
glazed window at the other and a door in each 
side — these comprised the iniproxements on the 
campus. No fence enclosed the area, but all 
was open, while Front Street, now known as 
Broad, was a lane cleared through the woods 
and full of stumps. 

The necessity for a chapel was pressing, but 
no funds were available for the purpose. In 
1808, Hope Hull offered that \i tlie board would 
give one hundred dollars for t belfry, he ^v(mId 
cause to be erected a chapel 40 by 60 feet and 
18 feet high. The offer was accepted and sev- 
eral trustees at once contribuleil to the chapel 
fund. Thomas Flournoy gave $32, General 
Twiggs, $50, and Peter Randolph, $200. 

The chapel was built on the spot where the 
present chapel stands and served its purpose for 
twelve years. 

From its organization in 1801 to 181 1 the P'ac- 
ulty consisted of a President, Mr. Meigs, one 
Professor of French, Petit De Clairville, and one 
Tutor, Addin Lewis, whose place in 1808 was 
filled by James Merriwether for a year, after 
which Mons. Petit held on for two years and 
resigned in 1810, leaving President Meigs alone 
in his glory to instruct all the classes in every de- 
partment of science. So the college came very 
near to the gates of death, and the town had but 
little more vitality. 



26 

In 1811 the Faculty was re-organized by the 
election of Dr. John Brown, President, and Dr. 
Henry Jackson and Mr. John B. Golding, Profes- 
sors. This galvanized the college into spasmodic 
breathing, and the town sympathized in the shock. 
A few houses before vacant, were occupied and 
some whitewashing, and may be a little painting 
done and the place looked for brighter days. I 
don't remember that anyone was so sanguine as 
to build a new house or improve a vacant lot. 
The hoped for improvement did not come, and 
the college and town languished, notwithstanding 
the election in 181 3 of an additional Professor, 
Dr. Wm. Green. 

But this strengthening of the Faculty did not 
have the expected effect of strengthening the in- 
stitution. The rents did not come in, and the 
Professor's salaries, ridiculously small though 
they were, were not paid, no apparatus could be 
bought, no library was within reach ; so the col- 
lege languished and the town sickened, and if the 
Legislature had not authorized the Board of 
Trustees to sell the lands and invest the proceeds, 
both would soon have died together. That im- 
portant measure was adopted, and in i8t6 the 
lands were sold and notes and bond.-; taken in 
pa)'ment. 

The writer has been present at every Com- 
mencement of the College since 1804, though 
his memory only reaches back to that of 1806. 



27 



On this occasion a large crowd of people, of all 
sorts, from the country and from towns, male 
and female, old and young, in every variety of 
costume, were assembled under a large bush 
arbor in front of the Old College, supplied with 
seats made of plank and slabs borrowed for the 
occasion from Easley's saw mill, resting on 
blocks or billets of woods which raised them 
from the ground. The stage for the Faculty, 
Trustees and speakers was erected at the side of 
the College building, and the speakers when 
called came out of the door at the east end. The 
whole was built mainly by the students.. The 
poles and brush for the arbor were growing in 
less than two hundred yards from the place 
where they were needed, the cutting and drag- 
ging them was a mere frolic, and as "many 
hands make light work" the affair once began 
was soon completed. 

Like all small boys, the writer was more 
interested in looking at the people than in listen- 
ing to the speakers, and as the seats provided 
did but little more than accommodate the ladies, 
the men and boys stood around on the outside. 
One of the audience was particularly conspicu- 
ous. He was a full head and shoulders above 
all others near him and seemed to be standing 
on a chair or bench. He attracted the larger 
notice of all the small boys who were amazed 
to find him standing on his own proper feet. 



28 



This was Benjamin Harrison, a very amiable 
young man, standing seven feet three inches in 
his shoes. Of course the intelhgent portion of 
the audience were interested in the orations, 
but the greater part looked on in stupid wonder 
as if on a pageant, understanding about as much 
of the English as they did of the Greek and 
Latin speeches which were delivered, all however 
wrapt in profound attention. 

The hearty, rosy cheeked country girls, in 
their homespun and calico dresses, looked with- 
out a shade of envy on the pale languid faces of 
the ladies from the miasmatic districts, dressed 
in their fashionably made silks and satins, and 
regarded them rather with commiseration, as 
people who would not milk a cow or cook a din- 
ner to save them from starvation. As to the 
men with kid gloves and silk stockings, they 
created the same emotions as a show of wax 
figures — they were "mighty fancy but no use." 

An old programme of the commencement of 
1814 contains the order of exercises, beginning 
with "an illumination of the college." The 
Commencement Sermon by the President, on 
Tuesday, July 26. At 7 o'clock the same evening 
was presented the tragedy of Cato by the stu- 
dents. On Wednesday Orations were delivered 
by W. W. Baldwin, J. M. Erwin, A Matthews, 
and an Essay on Tobacco by Henry Hull ; the 
exercises closing by a farce, "No song, no sup- 



29 



per," with Jabez Marshall, Miles Nisbet, Henry 
Hull, Elizur Newton, Mark A. Cooper, W. H. 
and Robert Flournoy, Thaddeus Holt and others 
in the cast of characters. On Thursday an ad- 
dress to volunteers was delivered by Elizur L. 
Newton with orations by Duncan G. Campbell, 
Asbury and Henry Hull and Thaddeus Holt, 
after which degrees were conferred. These ex- 
ercises were held sub arboribus. 

During the war of 1812 the stringency or the 
times bore heavily upon the people of Georgia 
and this was reflected in the fortunes of the 
College. The attendance of students fell off, 
salaries of Professors were cut in half and the 
ovitlook was gloomy. 

Year after year the prospect of the College 
grew darker, until for three years, 1817 — 'i8-'i9 
there was a virtual suspension of work. In 18 19 
the Board elected to the Presidency the most 
popular educator in the South, Dr. Moses Wad- 
dell, who had numbered among his pupils John 
C. Calhoun, George McDuffie and James L. Pitt- 
man, of South Carolina, Wm. H. Crawford, 
George R. Gilmer and A. B. Longstreet, of Geor- 
gia. Dr. Henry Jackson, Mr. John R. Golding 
and Dr. Alonzo Church were elected Professors 
and Mr. Ebenezer Newton, Tutor. 
. These constituted the best Faculty the College 
had ever had, which together with the new en- 
dowment gave new Hie to the institution, and 



30 

the town partaking of the inspiration began to 
grow and to assume a Hfe and activity that sur- 
prised the oldest inhabitants. Many lots that 
had been sold and remained unimproved from 
the beginning, changed hands, new lots were 
brought into market, and men with families 
flocked to the seat of the University to educate 
their children. The Philosophical Hall was built 
and equipped with new apparatus, and the Uni- 
verisity entered upon a career of usefulness 
which is unabated to the present day. 

CHAPTER HI. 
The pleasure which is derived from reading 
descriptions of the people of former times, their 
names and customs, their dress, their physical, 
moral and political conditions, their religious 
faith and practice, arises from the difference 
which the reader observes to exist in the former 
and present condition of these things. To note 
these changes, and the causes which led to them 
that we may avoid the things which experience 
teaches to be evil, and cleave to that which is 
good is the chief value of History. But the 
writer has no object so grave and ambitious as 
this. He writes these reminiscences to occvipy 
an idle hour and in the hope that he may give 
pleasure to some old people who may remember 
many of the persons and incidents which may be 
recalled to mind, and that the young may learn 
the changes which have taken place in our town 



31 



since the days of their grandfathers. 

The first Doctor who settled in Athens was a 
Dr. Wright, who came from Connecticut with 
President Meigs. He was an educated man 
and a gentleman, but so wanting in tact and com- 
mon sense that he did not secure the esteem of 
the people. Returning from a professional visit he 
he was stopped by an old woman living by the 
roadside to prescribe for her son, who was suf- 
fering from a violent attack of colic. "Can you 
give him an enema?" asked the Doctor. "O yes 
I can give him anything.' "Well, mix the medi- 
cine I'll send you in three half pints of warm 
water and give it," The next day passing by 
the Doctor inquired after the lad. "Oh said his 
mother, he's a heap better, but I couldn't make 
him swallow mor'n half that ar dost, but it work- 
ed him powerful, up and down." "Ah well" 
said the Doctor ''he swallowed enough." This 
incident illustrates the difficulties of the practice 
in a frontier settlement. The people venerated 
the Doctor but could never see the necessity of 
more than one visit, nor the propriety of charging 
for an attention which any neighbor would be 
glad to render for nothing. 

Dr. Wright sold his possessions and good will 
to Dr. Hugh Neisler ; for one doctor, one lawyer, 
one blacksmith and one preacher were sufficient 
for the wants of the community at that time. Dr. 
Neisler was of German extraction, though a 



32 



native of North Carolina. He married the sister 
of Major Thomas Mitcheh, so long the popular 
representative of Clarke County in the Legisla- 
ture. Dr. Neisler was a man of marked charac- 
ter, honest, credulous, confiding and truthful. 
He looked upon his neighbors as his personal 
friends and treated them as such. He had not 
the education of his predecessor. He was afflict- 
ed with a strange malady, Somnolence, under 
which he suffered from the writer's first recol- 
lection of him till his death. Feeling a patient's 
pulse invariably put him to sleep, yet a sleep, 
so light that a word or movement would arouse 
him, and it would appear from his reply to a 
question that he did not lose consciousness. He 
was among the best Latin scholars of the day. 
The Trustees of the University engaged him to 
fill temporarily the place of the Rector oi the 
Grammar School, it being perfectly practicable 
for him to teach the boys and attend to his 
patients during play hours and at night. The 
writer was a member of the school and has a 
vivid recollection of a small pocket edition of 
Virgil (his favorite author), which he always 
carried with him. While hearing a class he 
would usually fall into apparent sleep, but a 
suspension of the voice or a mistranslation of 
a sentence would arouse him immediately. This 
kind hearted gentleman did not w'hip a single 
boy during his administration of the school. He 



33 



had himself great respect for his profession and 
exacted the same from others. A gentleman 
from Savannah came for a few days to Athens. 
One night his wife was taken ill and he went to 
the Doctor for some medicine, and the next 
day called for his bill. '"Five dollars for a vial 
of laudanum!" exclaimed the man. "I charge 
you nothing for the laudanum," said the Doctor 
contemptuously, "you are welcome to it; but 
sir, when you knock up a scientific man at mid- 
night you must expect to pay for it." Rest in 
peace, beloved teacher and friend. 

Mrs. Lucy Gary, the widow of Dudley Gary, 
of Gloucester, Va., was among the earliest seitlers 
of Athens. She was such a lady as we may sup- 
pose Mary Washington to have been. She knew 
General Washington and his wife as well as 
most other distinguished Virginians in her young 
days. Her manners were formed from the best 
models of Virginia society — gentle, courteous, 
dignified, cheerful — as kind to one of her slaves 
as to a white person of the same age; and the 
result was that her slaves not only loved and 
respected her but prided themselves in belonging 
to an old \'irginia family. Many a student of 
Dr. Waddell's day will remember old Dick Gary, 
the bell ringer and college servant. He was a 
tall, fine looking old negro, wearing his white 
hair very long, that is to say very bushy. He 
^\as always well dressed and deported himself 



34 



as if he considered his office in the college second 
only to Dr. Waddell's, and from no other would 
he take orders. Mrs. Cary had the best trained 
housemaids — comely, full-blooded negro girls, 
always neat with heads covered with colored 
headkerchiefs very artistically arranged. 

How distinct after the lapse of so many years 
is the recollection of Mrs. Cary. The writer 
never saw her in any other than a black silk 
dress ; her tall cap and neckerchief were of the 
finest quality, white as snow and looked as if 
they had just come from the hands of the laun- 
dress. Her parlor, although the walls were of 
hewn logs, was as white and spotless as her cap, 
and the uncarpeted floor as clean and bright as if 
the planks had just left the plane. Then her tea 
table and service and snowy napkins ; such tea 
and bread and sandwiches and cakes! We shall 
never look upon the like again. 

Mrs. Cary was the mother of two daughters 
and two sons. One of the daughters was mar- 
ried to Mr. Stevens Thomas ; she died young, 
leaving two children, yet living; Mr. Stevens 
Thomas and Mrs. Paulina Harris. The other 
was married to Mr. Alsa Moore and lived more 
than four score years. The younger son, Peyton 
Cary, was a young man of rare promise. He had 
extraordinary mechanical genius, and without 
any instruction in metallurgy or engraving he 
cast of solid silver and engraved the seal of the 



35 



University, presenting it to his Alma Mater. The 
Trustees adopted it, and it is used upon their doc- 
uments to this day. No young man ever lived in 
Athens more esteemed or died more deeply la- 
mented. Mrs. Gary's descendants to the third and 
fourth generations are living in Athens, and her 
great-granddaughters, lovely and accomplished as 
they are, would be proud to claim her if they had 
known her as the writer did. Many years before 
her death her children had all left her, but she en- 
joyed the society of young people, and generally 
had some of her granddaughters and their friends 
to stay with her. It was a delightful place to 
spend the eevning — which had a slightly differ- 
ent meaning from what the phrase does now. 

An evening party of that day would now be 
called a matinee. Young gentlemen calling upon 
ladies would present themselves soon after sun- 
set and it was as certainly expected that they 
would take tea as that they would leave by nine 
o'clock. At all entertainments too, seats were pro- 
vided for all the guests and everything for their 
comfort; the. viands were abundant and sub- 
stantial and no one was asked to take any thing 
standing except a glass of wine or brandy and 
water at the sideboard. 

Captain John Gary was a brother of Dudley 
Gary. He was a gentleman reduced from af- 
fluence to very limited means for the mainten- 
ance and education of his family, but kept up the 



36 



manners and customs of old Virginia — entertain- 
ing young and old at his house with a dance 
and good cheer, varied with marvelous stories of 
his hunting exploits in Virginia. He was ap- 
pointed Steward of the College, and in 1813 Pay- 
master of the Georgia militia. 

At Capt. Gary's boarding house were two In- 
dian students. The Appalachee was then a part 
of the eastern boundary of the Gherokee Nation, 
and the Indians, selling their moccasins, dressed 
deer skins and cane baskets were as common in 
Athens as the traders from Habersham and Ra- 
bun are now. President Meigs was very desir- 
ous to have the Indians send their boys to col- 
lege and induced two or three Gherokees to make 
the experiment. These two boys, Joe and Ben 
Marshall, held out longer than the others. They 
were much petted by the President and were 
popular with the students on account of their su- 
periority in all athletic sports. They made very 
unsatisfactory progress in their studies. The 
writer saw them both in 1835 — spent the night at 
Joe Marshall's house in the Greek Nation, but did 
not see him until at breakfast next morning. He 
had grown very fat and stupid, remembering no- 
body he had ever known in Athens except Mr. 
Meigs and Mr. Thomas, and could not recall 
any of the students. This however might have 
been owing partly to the fact of his being very 
drunk the night before. He was a pure Indian 



37 



in dress and habits and seemed not to have prof- 
ited at all by his intercourse with the whites. His 
brother Ben on the contrary, whom the writer 
met a few days afterwards in Columbus, was well 
dressed and had shrewdness enough to select for 
his reservation the barren sand hills opposite Co- 
lumbus, on which now stands the town of Girard, 

Mrs. Puryear, whose husband was murdered 
by his negroes on the plantation about five miles 
below Athens, now belonging to the Graham es- 
tate, was a lady of the old Virginia school, full of 
energy and resolve, and managed her family af- 
fairs with great wisdom. Her daughters were 
beautiful women, carefully educated in all the 
arts of housewifery and taught by the example of 
their mother to be industrious and economical. 
They were consequently much admired and all 
married young. 

Mrs. Puryear was married the second tnpe to 
Major Charles Dougherty and became the mother 
of the three distinguished Georgians, Charles, 
Robert and William Dougherty. Their father 
died when they were too young to remember him, 
so they were left to the care of the mother a se- 
cond time a widow. Though .nen of remarkable 
natural endowments, their rapid advancement in 
popular favor and success at the bar were attri- 
buted as much to her firm and judicious training 
as to their own talents. She was a devoted mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church, believed its doc- 



38 



trine and practiced its precepts, and was regard- 
ed by all as a ''mother in Israel." After Major 
Dougherty's death she moved from the plantation 
to a house on the lot now occupied by her grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Nat Barnard. 

Mrs. Puryear's eldest daughter married Alajor 
McKigney who bought Captain Gary's old hotel, 
and who found in his young wife an industrious 
energetic helper in providing for the comfort of 
his boarders. He was an amiable and prosperous 
man and much esteemed, but died three or four 
years after his marriage, leaving his wife with 
two children. One of these, Rebecca, was mar- 
mied to Judge James Merriwether, long a mem- 
ber of the Legislature and of Congress. Mrs. 
McKigney afterwards married Captain Samuel 
Brown. If love goes by contrast it may account 
for Mrs. McKigney marrying Captain Brown. 
He was a man of good habits but utterly wantin*^" 
in enterprise, took life easily and was the most 
taciturn of men. He was the Magistrate of the 
Athens District for many years and gave general 
satisfaction. It was of course impossible to pleuse 
everybody, and occassionally exceptions were 
taken to his decisions. "I never expected justice 
in this court" said a litigant once. "You didn't !" 
said the Captain, "then sir, I'll send you v/here 
you can get justice," and so bound him over re- 
quiring him to give bond or go to jail. He was 
said to be rather partial to that process arising 



39 



perhaps from a modest estimate of his knowledge 
of the law. Some surprise was expressed at Mrs. 
McKigney marrying Captain Brown, to which 
she replied that she had found it very inconven- 
ient to live without a man about the house and she 
thought she could manage a husband better than 
anybody else. 

Captain Brown besides enlarging his hotel built 
a small store on the corner where Center & 
[leaves' now stands, and supplying it with a gen- 
eral stock, employed John Buyers as clerk. 
Buyers was as old, as taciturn as his employer, 
and several degrees more indolent. Mrs. Brown 
was at one time afflicted with ulcers on her hands. 
After doctoring them herself she sent for the 
family physician. "Now Doctor," said she, 
"you are a believer in Divine Providence and 
all that; now tell me why it is that I, who am 
willing to work, should be laid up with sore 
hands, week after week, unable to do a hand's 
turn for my family, while Mr. Brown and Old 
Buyers who never did do anything, never had 
anything the matter with their hands?" 

Thirty years ago the people who knew any- 
thing of Athens would have regarded it a strange 
thing that any account of the local history of the 
town and University should omit the name of 
Rev. Hope Hull. He came to Athens in the 
year 1803 ; bought of Daniel Easley, the house 
in which Mr. Edward Hodgson now lives and 



40 



the tract of land now owned by Colonel Yancey, 
by the Fair Grounds, then an unbroken forest 
excepting- a small field on the river, about twenty 
acres in the extent, cleared and cultivated after 
their fashion by a tribe of Cherokees. He lived 
several years in the village, during which inter- 
val he built a house about four hundred yards 
east of the present Fair Grounds. He moved 
into this house, lived there and died there in 
1818. The house was some years afterwards 
moved into town by the writer and is now owned 
and occupied by Dr. Joseph B. Carlton. Mr. Hull 
devoted himself with untiring industry to the 
material, intellectual and spiritual advancement 
of the whole community, and perhaps no man 
contributed so much to stamp indelibly upon 
them the sober and religious character which the 
town and vicinity have always borne. The fol- 
lowing sketch taken from Sprague's Annals of 
the American Pulpit, may meet the eyes of some 
old enough to remember him, and of many who 
have heard of him from their fathers. 

"Few if any names of Methodist evangelists 
were more venerated in the South toward the 
end of the last and the beginning of the present 
centuries than that of Hope Hull. A man of 
sterling abilities and character, his influence be- 
came general. A singularly persuasive eloquence 
of which tradition in both New England and 
the extreme South still speaks with wonders. 



41 



made him one of the chief among the many 
eloquent itinerants of those days ; and great 
purity and firmness of character, and soundness 
and largeness, of mind, combined with dignity 
and simphcity of manners, secured him more 
than popularity, universal respect and confidence. 
Re was born on the Eastern shore of Maryland 
in 1763, joined the Methodists in Baltimore in 
his youth, was received into the Baltimore Con- 
ference in 1785, and sent to Salisbury Circuit, 
North Carolina. His rare talents gave him im- 
mediate success, and for two years he was one 
of the principal founders of the Church in North 
and South Carolina and Georgia. The unfor- 
tunate Beverly Allen had been sent to Georgii 
a< early as 1785, but he formed few if any 
societies in his first labors there. Hull was sent 
to Washington, in Wilkes County, in 1788, the 
first time that the name of the circuit appears in 
the Minutes. He is therefore supposed to be the 
founder of Methodism in that region. He was 
in many places the first Methodist preacher the 
people had ever seen and to many the first preach- 
er of any denomination. It was chiefly through 
his exertions that the first brick building was 
erected in Washington, designed to be used as an 
Academy." Asbury sent him to New England, 
where he effectively co-operated with Lee and his 
little band. In 1793 he was back again laying siege 
to Savannah, and riding that circuit. In 1794 



42 



he was Asbury's traveling companion, sharing 
the adventurous toils of the Bishop in many a 
hard field. Towards the close of our present 
period his health and domestic circumstances 
compelled him to locate. But the location of 
itinerant Methodist preachers in that day was 
more a limitation than a cessation of their itiner- 
ancy. They preached usually more every week 
than regular preachers in modern times and their 
labors extended through all the region round 
about their homes, twenty, thirty or more miles. 
Hope Hull, though brought up a mechanic, had 
too large and thoughtful a mind not to appreciate 
the importance of education. He had educated 
himself on his circuits, studying, not only his own 
but the Latin language and literature. His ob- 
servation of the opening country convinced him 
that next to Christianity, education was the great 
requisite of the times, that the evident future 
of the young nation rendered this want impera- 
tive. He threw himself therefore back upon one 
of his remote early circuits in Wilkes Count\ , 
Ga., and with the advice of Asbury opened an 
Academy. He only changed his field and plan 
of labor. The children of many Methodist fam- 
ilies were trained under his roof. Still later he 
moved to Athens, Ga,. and helped to found tht. 
State University there, the first building of 
which had not yet been completed. He became 
the most active member of the Board of Trustees 



43 



and continued such until his death. Perhaps 
no man did more for the prosperity of that in- 
stitution." 

A veteran Methodist preacher (Rev. Lovick 
Pierce) who intimately knew him, says, "to help 
rescue the name of Hope Hull from oblivion I 
feel to be a reasonable and holy duty. Indeed, 
I have long felt that there was an undischarged 
obligation resting upon our Church in regard to 
this eminent man. He was among the pioneers 
of Methodism in Georgia, and in the vigor of his 
manhood, both as to his physical and mental 
powers, his fame was almost world-wide. I well 
remember that in the days of my youth, he used 
to be known under the coarse but graphic appella- 
tion of "Broadaxe," an honorary distinction con- 
ferred on him because of the mighty power that 
attended his ministry. My eyes first fell on him 
as he sat near the pulpit of a small log cabin, 
called "Hull's Meeting House," in Clarke County, 
near Athens. It was a memorable day in my own 
history. I had longed to see and now I feared 
to meet him. It was my second year in the min- 
istry, and above all my fear of criticism made 
his presence dreadful to me. The wonderful re- 
ports which had reached me made me look upon 
him rather as an august than a fatherly being, 
and when I saw him there was nothing in the 
appearance of the real to relieve my mind of 
the dread of the ideal man. His head was rather 



44 



above the medium size, his black hair curling, just 
sprinkled with gray, and each lock looking as if 
hving under a self willed government. His face 
v;as an exceedingly fine one — a well developed 
forehead, a small keen blue eye, with a heavv 
brow, indicative of intense thought. His should- 
ers were unusually broad and square, his chest 
wide, affording ample room for his lungs ; his 
body was long and large in proportion to his 
lower limbs ; his voice full, flexible and capable 
of every variety of intonation, from the softest 
sounds of sympathy and persuasion to the thun- 
der tones of wrath. Many ignorant sinners 
charged him with having learned their secrets 
and of using the pulpit to gratify himself in their 
exposure, and when convinced of their mistake 
have doubted whether he were not a prophet. 
His oratory was natural, his action the unaffected 
expression of his mind. Not only w^as there an 
entire freedom from everything like mannerism, 
but there was a great harmony between his gestic- 
ulation and the expression of his countenance. He 
seemed in some of his finest moods of thought to 
look his words into you. He was one of Nature's 
orators. In many of his masterly efforts hi? 
words rushed upon his audience like an ava- 
lanche, and multitudes seemed to be carried be- 
fore him like the yielding captives of a stormed 
castle. I was very intimate with him for about ten 
years, staying in his house, and talked and prayed 



45 



and praised with him. At that time he was a 
local, I an itinerant preacher ; biit often did he 
leave home and business to travel with me for 
days. All my intimacy with him only served to 
multiply evidences of his exalted worth. Grave 
and guarded as he was, there were moments 
when he entertained his friends with the recital 
of thrilling incidents in his history connected with 
the more rustic forms of -society with which he 
had been conversant. There was in many of his 
impromptu remarks the appearance of almost 
prophetic appositeness. He survived till 1818, 
when he died, saying, "God has laid me under 
marching orders. I am ready to obey." 

CHAPTER IV. 
.The transition is natural from the subject of 
the extract quoted to the religious denominations 
of the vicinity of Athens a half century ago. It 
was prior to this that the first great camp meet- 
ing was held, two miles this side of Lexington, 
at a place afterwards known as Jourdan's. Mr. 
William Lumpkin, a brother of the Governor, 
pointed out the place to the writer and described 
the meeting. The most marvelous effects of re- 
ligous truth, heard for the first time, upon a rude 
backwoods pioneer people, were exhibited in the 
highest degree. Men, physically strong as ath- 
letes, accustomed to all the perils of Indian war- 
fare and dangers of frontier life, would start 
from the midst of a vast concourse of people, as 



46 



if the preacher were leveHng a rifle at them, 
run as if for life and before a hundred yards 
were passed, fall apparently as dead as if pierced 
with a ball. Mr. Lumpkin knew many of them 
who, from being the w^orst, became the best men 
in the community. 

Our immediate vicinity was settled by emi- 
grants, principally from Virginia and North 
Carolina, coming in families and belonging to the 
same religous faith. The settlers of Sandy Creek 
district were Presbyterians and organized "Sandy 
Creek Church," first located on the stream from 
which it took its name, but afterwards moved 
several miles west to its present location. Among 
the founders of this Church were James and 
John Espey, two Revolutionary soldiers, who 
fought at Guilford Courthouse and King's Moun- 
tain, excellent men and citizens of blameless, use- 
ful lives and irreproachable character. 

The settlers of the district east of the Oconee 
down to Barnett's Shoals, were Baptists. They 
were the Hales, Pittards, Bakers and Malones. 
This community built two meeting houses, the 
"Trail Creek Church," near Dr. McCleskey's 
present residence, and "Big Creek Church," at 
Barnett's Shoals. 

Between the forks of the Oconee River as far 
up as Hall county, which was then Cherokee Na- 
tion, all the people who belonged to any church 
were Methodists. Again, the Barbour's Creek 



47 

settlement was Baptist while below Watkinsville 
all were Methodists.. There was at that time 
a manifest disinclination on the part of all de- 
nominations to interfere with the religious faith 
of a neighborhood lest they should "build on an- 
other man's foundation." Mr. John Hodge was 
the only Presbyterian preacher until Dr. Wad- 
dell's time, the latter organizing the Athens 
Church and securing the erection of the old 
church on the Campus, where the Library build- 
ing now stands. 

The first Methodist meeting house on this side 
of the Oconee was built of small logs with the 
bark on. It was about 22x24 covered with pine 
boards and presented externally the appearance 
of a negro cabin without a chimney. There was 
a door on one side, and opposite to it, a box made 
of the kind of boards that were used to cover the 
house, served for a pulpit. The floor was made 
of split logs smoothed somewhat on one side by a 
broad ax and laid on the ground ; the seats were 
of the same material set on four legs. This 
meeting house was on the land of Josiah Free- 
man, near a spring about 500 yards east of Mr. 
Barwick's house. In this miserable cabin two 
of the most eloquent men of the time used to 
preach sometimes to a dozen, never to more than 
a hundred hearers. This house was aband')ned, 
Church." He was a man of spotless character 
and in 1810 a more commodious building was 



48 



erected a little south of the Fair Grounds. Tliis 
was "Hull's Meeting House," and served until 
1824 when the first Methodist Church — the pre- 
decessor of the Brick Church — was built. The 
lot was given by Mr. Thomas Hancock of whom 
and his excellent wife, the writer can only say 
that they were the most lovable and purest heart- 
ed eld Methodist people he ever knew, and there 
are few such left. They lived in the house nov,' 
occupied by Mrs. Vincent, where reduced from 
affluence by commercial losses, they opened a 
house of public entertainment, where all were 
y.eicome, both those who paid and those who did 
not; and most welcome of all were those who 
could not. 

The new church was a frame building about 
forty feet square with a gallery on three sides, 
and a man six feet high could have stood erect 
under the floor of the pulpit. It was first in 
charge of Rev. Thomas Stanley and afterwards 
of Lovick Pierce. After a few years, proving to 
be insufficient to accommodate the congregation 
the building was enlarged by an addition of 
twenty feet at the west end, and so stood until 
1852.' 

The Baptists were numerically, as they are 
now, the largest denomination. Rev. Isaiah 
Hale was the first pastor of "Trail Creek 
and "had in reputation by all the people." The 
writer was not capable of judging of the charac- 



49 

ter of his sermons as to the soundness of their 
theology, but his manner of dehvering them he 
will never forget. It was a peculiar intoning, a 
sort of sing-song, absolutely indescribable, that 
had to be heard to be conceived of. Yet it was 
not unpleasant after becoming accustomed to it. 

It was a custom with Mr. Hale and, with his 
successor, Mr. Goss, occasionally during the ser- 
mon to address personally and by name, some of 
the older members of his congregation, male and 
female, calling upon him to approve some senti- 
ment or enquiring if his experience did not agree 
with that of the preacher. The effect of this was 
to secure the attention of his audience and add 
life to the services. On the other hand if the 
preacher misquoted a passage of scripture, any 
member was at liberty to correct him. "Where- 
fore,' said the preacher, ''let him that standeth 
take heed lest he fall." "Let him that thinketh 
he standeth. Brother Goss," said a voice from the 
congregation. "Thank you. Brother Malone," 
said the preacher, and then quoted the passage 
correctly. The settlers of Trail Creek were Bap- 
tists, all industrious, honest farmers, paid their 
debts and lived peaceably, and if one of them 
on rare occasions took a little too much corti, 
none thought any the worse of him whilst he 
behaved himself. 

The relations which existed between pastor 
and people in the denominations was very differ- 



50 



ent. The Methodist itinerant saw the members 
of his Church not oftener than once in several 
weeks, and only for a short time at that. His 
shad-bellied coat, broad-brimmed hat and sol- 
emn visage, impressed the people more or less 
with awe. The Baptist pastor, on the other hand, 
was usually a farmer of the neighborhood, living 
like his parishioners, meeting them in the social 
circle, trading horses with them, buying and 
selling in the week and preaching on Sunday 
without money and without price. This engen- 
dered a familiarity which, if it did not "breed 
contempt," frequently led to scenes very unbe- 
coming a Church. 

There was a man about Watkinsville named 
Philip Brown, commonly called Phil. He had 
from disease lost his hair when quite a young 
man, and his head was as smooth as a billiard 
ball. He wore a white cotton cap under his hat. 
He was a great wag, and made much fun of 
his baldness, and while not a wicked man was 
surely irreligious. The Baptist preachers of 
Mars Hill were in their doctrine decidedly hard- 
shell. One of them, as the story goes was hold- 
ing forth to a large congregation on the decrees 
and the sovereignty of God and the worthless- 
ness of works, etc., and in the torrent of argu- 
ment with rapid vehemence exclaimed : "I tell 
you my brethren, if you ever get to heaven you 
will be taken there by the hair of your head." 



51 



Phil Brown rose to his feet, thus attracting the 
notice of the whole congregation, snatched the 
cap from his head and cried out, "Lord have 
mercy upon me; what shall / do?" 

Among the householders who were residents 
of Athens sixty years ago, was Mrs. Sarah King, 
who lived in the house to which reference has 
been frequently made, Mr. Edward Hodgson's. 
Her maiden name was Bacon. She was one of a 
numerous family connection of that name that 
lived about Augusta. "Ned Brace," of the 
"Georgia Scenes/' was one of them. Mrs. King 
was first married to a Scotchman, Mr. Weed, of 
Savannah, an old bachelor whose sun of life 
was considerably on the west side of the meri- 
dian. He had accumulated a large property, con- 
sisting of rice plantations and slaves, a large tract 
of land, including a considerable part of the city 
of Brunswick and real estate in Savannah. He 
carried his buxom young wnfe to his Savannah 
home where she entered upon a life of gaiety 
with all the zest and enjoyment which wealth 
could bestow. After the death of Mr. Weed, 
which occurred in a year or two, she was married 
to Mr. John King a handsome stylish young man 
from the North who had nothing to do but en- 
joy the wealth which the shrewd old Scotchman 
had accumulated by years of toil and self denial. 
At his death an examination of the estate showed 
that there was barely enough left to rear and 



52 



educate the family of six children with whom 
Mrs. King moved to Athens. Here she bought 
the house mentioned above and the farm at the 
head of Carr's Pond, now owned by Miss Marga- 
ret Nisbet. With habits of economy, the family 
might have prospered, but they never learned to 
change their Savannah style of living until com- 
pelled by dire necessity. Then the house in town 
was sold and the family removed to the farm, 
upon which a small grist mill was their main 
dependence for a living. 

Two of Mrs. King's daughters married and 
moved out of the State — one was Airs. Lawton, 
of South Carolina. Her oldest son John, a very 
worthy gentleman, died while on a visit to Au- 
gusta. The youngest daughter Evalina, a great 
beauty, died just when budding into womanhood, 
and the stricken mother was left with one son, 
George, and a daughter, Miss Agnes, to strug- 
gle with poverty and increasing infirmities. Af- 
ter a few years her farm and mill were taken 
from her when she returned to town and lived 
in the house now owned by Mr. Jonathan Hamp- 
ton, where after a short time she laid down her 
life and her troubles. 

While in the enjoyment of wealth and prosper- 
ity, in full health and entering with zest into all 
the gaieties of fashionable life, by accident or 
from curiosity Mrs. King went to a Methodist 
camp meeting, and from that hour the whole 



53 



current of her life was turned into a different 
channel. Mrs. King was a woman of bold, 
prominent characteristics, both physical and 
moral. She was very large, weighing not less 
than 250 lbs. and a very hearty eater. It was said 
she would eat a good sized shad for breakfast, 
and when peaches were in season she would con- 
sume fifty at a sitting. In the days of her pros- 
perity she entertained a great deal and in later 
days nothing gave her greater pleasure than to 
have a friend take dinner with her. Her guests 
never saw her until they were invited into the 
dining room, and found her sitting at the head of 
a table loaded with the best viands the country 
afforded, the preparation of every article having 
passed under own supervision. Her education 
had been defective and she was very supersti- 
tious. The writer has more than once heard her 
relate her religious experience in which she said 
she was walking in her garden "and evidently 
saw with her natural eyes, the Lord Jesus stand- 
ting and appearing to her as he had done to Mary 
on the resurrection morning ; that she threw 
herself at his feet, when he vanished from her 
sight leaving her filled with joy and peace." She 
never doubted the genuineness of the vision to 
the day of her death, forty years thereafter. She 
believed in witches ; fasted every Friday for 
twenty-four hours, spoke at camp meetings and 
lovef easts and generally wound up the meetings. 



54 



Hospitality was as natural to her as breathing. 
The place for baptizing for the Trail Creek 
Church was near her house, and the subjects for 
the ordinance were all taken to her house where 
their comfort was made her personal care. She 
would attend their meetings, partaking of ineir 
sacraments, joining in their footwashing and oc- 
casionally give them a rousing exhortation. She 
never feared the face of man nor the approach 
of death. The writer has seen many die but 
none who met death more calmly and serenely. 
Perhaps the most prominent citizen of the town 
in his day was Judge Augustin S. Clayton. If 
what the writer may say of him should incur the 
charge of extravagance, let it be remembered that 
Judge Clayton was the faithful reprover of his 
youth, the constant adviser of his later years and 
always his unwavering friend. His name is in- 
separably associated with the earliest history of 
Athens and the University. Graduating in the 
first class of 1804, he studied law with Judge 
Carnes, was admitted to the bar, married Miss 
Julia Carnes and came to Athens with his young 
wife and first born son in less than four years 
after his graduation, poor but hopeful, and es- 
tablished himself as attorney at law. Immediate- 
ly afterwards, he was elected Secretary of the 
Board of Trustees, which office he held until 
elected a member of the Board and one of the 
Prudential Committee upon whom developed the 



55 



immediate superintendence of the interests of the 
College. 

Judge Clayton was the confidential friend and 
counsellor of every President and Faculty ; the 
mediator in every difficulty of a general nature 
between Faculty and Students ; and by his good 
temper and sagacity always succeeded in re- 
establishing good order and obedience to law. 
He was the only lawyer in Athens for fifteen 
years and arrested many cases of litigation by 
reconciling the parties. Alive to every interest 
of the town, he was one of the company that first 
introduced machinery for the manufacture of 
cotton goods in the South ; he was among the 
first to secure a charter and inaugurate the 
building of the Georgia Railroad, and was a 
member of its first Directory ; he was one of the 
committee to raise funds and superintend the 
erection of the first church (the Methodist) 
which was built in Athens. Of his political life 
and character as judge of the Superior Court, 
member of the Legislature and of Congress, it 
is not appropriate to speak in this connection ; 
but whatever tended to promote religion, good 
morals, good order and the prosperity of the 
University and the town, found in Judge Clayton 
an ardent and efficient friend and advocate. 

Dr. Moses Waddell was a North Carolinian. 
He and Dr. James Nisbet were from Iredell coun- 
ty, and old schoolmates. When the College was 



56 



at its lowest ebb, mustering seven students at a 
full roll call, he was elected President, and the 
invitation was followed by such urgent appeals 
from distinguished Georgians, Governor Gilmer 
among them, that Dr. Waddell waived all objec- 
tions, gave up his celebrated school at Willing- 
ton, S. C, and came to Athens in 1819. 

It was shortly after his arrival that President 
Monroe, on a tour of the Southern States, came 
to visit the seat of the University. Dr. Waddell 
was deputed to address him in behalf of the citi- 
zens at Brown's Hotel. His administration of 
the University was singularly successful. From 
the handful of students he found, the attendance 
increased to one hundred or more, and for ten 
years with wise counsel and inflexible discipline 
he kept the institution ever advancing. He 
thought the students of a University not too 
good for correction and used to whip them with- 
out compunction when he deemed the punish- 
ment needed. 

At the time of Dr. Waddell's removal to Ath- 
ens there was no place of public worship in the 
town. Divine services were held in the Chapel 
and afterwards in the Apparatus Hall. He or- 
ganized the Presbyterian Church March, 1821, 
with fourteen members and that congregation 
afterwards built a church where the College 
Library now stands. He ministered to them as 
their pastor until Dr. Hoyt's time. After his 



57 



resignation at Commencement, 1829, he return- 
ed to his home in Carohna and as his carriage 
stood in readiness to convey him away, the stu- 
dents marched in a body to his house, one of 
whom dehvered a farewell address. After three 
years he returned to Athens, the victim of a 
lingering disease, and died in the house of his 
son Prof. James P. Waddell, July 21, 1840. 

Dr James Tinsley, a native of Columbia coun- 
ty, was a contemporary of Judge Longstreet at 
Dr. Waddell's school in Willington, S. C, where 
he learned a little Latin and Greek and little else. 
He studied medicine with Dr. Abbott, in Wash- 
ington, Ga., and attended lectures in Philadel- 
phia, where his extraordinary talents began to 
be developed. He was a distinguished member 
of a large class and in their debating clubs, com- 
posed of professors and students, attracted the 
notice and admiration of the professors of that 
celebrated school. He returned to Washington 
after his graduation and commenced the practice 
with Dr. Abbott, who held him in the highest 
estimation and made unusual efforts to introduce 
him into his own extensive practice. 

But Tinsley was erratic and defied the conven- 
tional rules of practice of medicine and of society, 
and in a year or two, in 1820, Dr, Abbott, who 
was an influential member of the Board of Trus- 
tees, procured for him the Professorship of 
Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in Franklin 



58 

College. He was totally unqualified for the 
chair, but his friends thought that the wonder- 
ful power of his intellect would overcome his 
want of training and enable him to sustain him- 
self. Dr. Tinsley however could not endure the 
quiet routine of College life and after two years 
of irksome restraint, resigned. He was a man of 
wonderful physical strength. His weight was 
never more than i6o pounds, his head large, his 
eyes very black and piercing; beard black and 
curling; shoulders broad and chest wide and 
deep. In spite of this, however, he was subject 
to violent and alarming hemmorhages from the 
lungs. On account of this solitary weakness he 
exposed himself to the most inclement weather 
without overcoat, umbrella or any protection 
from a wintry blast, rain, or summer's sun, with 
his shirt collar and bosom open and often without 
a hat. He said he did this because he had ob- 
served that the men afflicted as he was by nurs- 
ing themselves, always grew worse and eventual- 
ly died of consumption, which he did not mean 
to do if he could help it. 

Dr. Tinsley married a lady of culture and 
wealth, but without extravagant living gradually 
became poorer, until all his estate was gone. He 
made the brick and built the Demosthenian Hall, 
and afterwards Mr. Scudder's house, which was 
burned before it was occupied, but immediately 
rebuilt by his great energy. He then built the 



59 

Coppee house and Captain Barry's. He estab- 
lished and edited the Southern Cultivator and 
failed at it, and at one time kept tavern. All 
this time he practiced medicine after his fashion, 
although he never kept any medicine, depending 
upon what he found in the families he visited, 
and never had a surgical instrument. The writer 
was invited by him to witness the operation of 
lithotomy, which he performed successfully with 
the scalpel and forceps of a pocket case ot in- 
struments which he borrowed for the occasion. 
At another time the writer saw him remove a 
large tumor from a woman with her husband's 
razor. Though affecting great contempt for the 
conventional rules of society he could act the 
courteous gentleman with charming grace. No 
man could be more agreeable or more captious 
as the humor found him. 

Though possessmg great physical strength Dr. 
Tinsley's temper was such that he had few oc- 
casions to exhibit it. A bully of Sandy Creek 
district named Bailey hearing of Tinsley's won- 
derful strength, remarked that he would be glad 
to "feel of him.' This was told the Doctor, who 
happening to meet Bailey near his house, acc^J^■t- 
ed him in a very friendly manner and told him 
what he had heard. Bailey admitted the truth, 
but had not intended any offence to the Doctor. 
Tinsley assured him that he did not consider the 
remark offensive but inferred that Bailev con- 



60 

sidered it a question which was the ''better man" 
of the two, and proposed that they should settle it 
then and there. Bailey said he never had fought 
a man without being mad with him, but he could 
not let it be said that he "backed out." So with- 
out other provocation and without witnesses they 
went at it and Bailey was so severely beaten that 
Tinsley carried him up to his house and nursed 
him carefully and kindly until he was able to go 
home. 

Thus he "frittered quite away" the richest en- 
dowment of intellectual wealth which, if properly 
directed, would have made him eminently useful 
in his day. He moved from Georgia to Alabama, 
where he shortly afterwards died. 

CHAPTER V. 

Mr. Thomas Hancock, to whom reference has 
been made, and Colonel John A. Cobb were long 
old friends and neighbors in Jefferson county, 
whence about the same time they moved to Ath- 
ens. They belonged to different political par- 
ties, and the Hancocks were Methodists, while 
Mr. Cobb was a Baptist; yet these dififerences 
which so often brought bitterness and hatred 
among neighbors and even brothers, occasioned 
no such effect in these men — they had too much 
honesty, probity and charity. They continued 
fast friends so long as life lasted. 

Colonel Cobb lived for several years where Dr. 
R. M. Smith lives, and afterwards in a house on 
Mr. Nevitt's lot which was removed by Mr. W. 



61 



W. Lumpkin. He owned the land lying between 
Barber street on the east and Hill street on the 
south, including Mrs. Lamar's, Dr. C. W. Long's 
and Mr. S. C. Reese's place, and when he laid off 
the tract into lots that part of Athens was called 
Cohhham. 

Colonel Cobb was a large man, over six feet 
in height, weighing not less than three hundred 
pounds. This portliness which men do not us- 
ually attain until somewhat advanced in life, 
gave him the appearance of being older than he 
was, and he was called the old Colonel by his 
elders, which used to vex him no little. On one 
occasion when he was very anxious to buy some 
carriage horses, a stranger brought a pair for 
him to try. He was timid about horses and asked 
the writer to ride after them and see if they were 
gentle. I did so, and after becoming satisfied 
that they were well trained returned and reported 
favorably upon them. The owner of the horses 
then spoke up in a lively tone, "Come, old gentle- 
man, get in and see them move." The Colonel 
turned his back to the man and walked ofif, saying 
indignantly, "I'll have nothing to do with you 
or your horses.' Nor would he be appeased, 
though the man was ready to make any number 
of apologies when he learned the nature of the 
offence. 

Colonel Cobb was very wretched when any of 
his children were sick and was a liberal patron of 



62 



the family physician. Whenever any member of 
family, white or black, in town or on plantation, 
complained of a finger-ache, he would say, "Well 
why don't you send for the doctor?" He would no 
more think of making a prescription or of ad- 
ministering a dose of medicine than of perform- 
ing a surgical operation ; all this was done by 
Mrs. Cobb. He could not coerce a child to take 
physic, and when one had to have a tooth pulled 
it occasioned him awful distress. As soon as the 
Doctor made his appearance he would retreat in- 
to the garden and establish a line of telegraph 
by posting servants, to whom from one to an- 
other the question would be sent "Is it out?" 
and the answer sent back, "Not yet," and in rapid 
succession the question and answer would be 
transmitted until the joyful reply "yes" should 
reach him, when he would come in and congrat- 
ulate the whole concern. He could not bear to 
witness suffering in any form. 

Colonel Cobb's theory, adverse to that of Solo- 
mon in the matter of family government, he 
carried into rigid practice. "That a father should 
never whip his son. His mother might whip him 
or his schoolmaster might whip him, but his fath- 
er never ! never ! it would break his spirit and 
make him cowardly. Keep him at home and 
never let him leave the house after dark. Boys 
acquire all their bad habits by being allowed to 
roam the streets at nis[ht. Let him see all that 



63 



is to be seen by day, but keep him at home at 
night." Such was his theory and his practice, 
and in his case it was attended with remarkable 
results, though it is a question if these were not 
attributable as much to the tender care and 
watchfulness, the sweet influence of a mother's 
love and unceasing prayer, as to the Colonel's 
theory. 

In truth it would have been unnatural for buch 
a woman as Mrs. Cobb to have had wicked or 
worthless sons. She was a member of the Bap- 
tist Church, and not only her church dogmas but 
her own "meekness and humbleness of mind" 
would have been inexpressibly shocked if any one 
had told her she was a perfect Christian; yet, if 
love to God and to every creature which He 
made, manifested by every act of her daily life 
constitutes perfection, she was a perfect Chris- 
tian. Singularly alike in their Christian char- 
acter were Mrs. Cobb and Mrs. Hancock. Few 
such are left. 

Colonel Cobb had a singular dread of sickness 
and death with all their concomitants. He never 
looked upon a dead body if he could avoid it, and 
would go any distance rather than meet a funeral 
procession. This was when he enjoyed perfect 
health ; but it all passed away. He suffered a 
long and tedious term of affiction from paitial 
paralysis, and after his restoration to health was 
received into the Baptist Church, and remained 



64 



in her communion till his death. If any apology 
is needed for this feeble tribute to this excellent 
couple it may be found in the fact that from the 
time of their coming to Athens to the day of their 
passing away, the writer was made to feel more 
like a near relative to the family than a stranger 
to their blood. 

Among the speakers at the bush arbor Com- 
mencement, in 1804 was Thomas Hamilton, 
whose personal appearance and proud and gentle- 
manly bearing attracted the notice of strangers 
as well as of acquaintances wherever he went. 
He was the son of Captain James Hamilton of 
Revolutionary fame who received as a reward 
for his services three thousand acres of the finest 
lands of Ohio. After graduating, young Hamil- 
ton studied law and practiced successfully for 
several years, but abandoned it to become a model 
Georgia planter, and by skillful attention to his 
business and clear headed financiering accumu- 
lated a very large fortune. 

Colonel Hamiliton was called by his county 
( Columbia) to the Legislature and State Conven- 
tions and no man enjoyed more securely the 
esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. It may 
be said of him what can be said of few men who 
grow very rich, that he was never charged with 
oppression or of trenching upon the rights of 
rich or poor. With all men, his transactions 
were scrupulously honorable and always as be- 



65 



came an upright highminded gentleman. His 
deportment was dignified and some thought him 
pioud, but he was only too proud to do a mean 
thing or behave in a manner unbecoming a high 
toned gentleman. 

Another of those speakers was James Meri- 
wether, a son of General David Meriwether, al- 
so a Revolutionary soldier. James, after grad- 
uation, served as Tutor in the College for a year, 
then studied law in Elberton and was admitted 
to the bar with fine prospects of success. With 
fine person, popular manners, uncommon talents 
and strong family influence his success was not 
doubtful. But he was singularly wanting in am- 
bition, and marrying a wonderfully beautiful 
country girl he abandoned the law, settled on a 
plantation on Barber's Creek and became the 
helpless victim of rural felicity. The war of 
1812 aroused him from his dreams and he formed 
a volunteer rifle company which he commanded 
in the war with the Creek Indians, serving under 
General Floyd. After the close of the war he 
was elected to Congress ; serving there two ses- 
sions, he again sank into retirement. 

Major Meriwether was active and strong as 
an athlete delighted in field sports, kept horses 
and hounds, read much and kept apace with the 
progress of politics, religion and science. He 
was the general referee in all troubles and dis- 
putes in his neighborhood. The poor and viis- 



66 



tressed always applied to him and never in vain 
for relief, and his hospitality was boundless. In 
this way he not only spent his income but made 
serious inroads upon his capital. He determined, 
therefore, to move to the rich lands of West Ten- 
nessee and whilst making his arrangements for 
that step settled his family in Athens where they 
resided for two years in the house now occupied 
by Mrs. Bradford. 

In the times of which I write, the military spirit 
engendered by the Revolution was kept alive by 
the recitals of old soldiers. 

"Wherein they spoke of most disastrous chances: 
Of moving incidents by flood and fiekl: 
Of hair breadth 'scapes; the imminent and deadly 
breach." 

And the proximity of the two powerful Indian 
tribes, Creek and Cherokee, kept in check only 
through fear of the white man's rifle, seemed to 
render it indispensable to keep the militia so 
organized as to make it effective when the coun- 
try should demand its services. In every house 
there were as many guns as men, and boys old 
enough to handle them, which were always kept 
in good order and in frequent if not constant use 
upon the bears, wolves and deer in which the 
forest abounded. The militia laws were en- 
forced and a captain of a company was a digni- 
tary of no small consideration, particularly on 



67 



muster day. Well do I remember the respect 
and admiration, not unmixed with fear, which 
Captain Warham Easly excited among the boys 
when he appeared in the showy uniform of the 
day — cocked hat with waving plumes, tipped with 
red, red sash and epaulets with Continental 
dress. I thought him the most magnificent man 
in the world, and was unutterably shocked to see 
him after parade return to his store and sell a 
pound of copperas to a country woman, and 
that too before he had taken off his uniform ! 

Every body in the district came to town on 
muster day, but a company muster was nothing 
compared to a battalion muster. Six or eight 
companies formed a battalion, and there were five 
of six times as many people in town on such oc- 
casions. 

Major McKigney was not so tall by six inches 
as Captain Easly, but then he had the advantage 
of parading on horseback and his horse was al- 
ways the handsomest in the neighborhood. It 
was considered a compliment, both to the horse 
and his owner, for the Major to ask the loan of 
him for the day, and the owner thought his horse 
as important a factor as any officer on parade. 

But the great muster was the regimental, or 
general muster as it was called, when all the 
militia of the county met at Watkinsville, com- 
manded by the Colonel and sometimes the Gen- 
eral of the Division, accompanied by the In- 



68 



spector General, Fouche — pronounced in that day 
Fh)sh. It was a great advance in civilization 
when in after years these military parades were 
discontinued, for their effect on the community 
was only evil and that continually. On general 
muster days there was more drunkenness, pro- 
fanity and fighting than on any other occasion of 
public assembly, and while the militia laws re- 
mained upon the statute book the disregard of 
them was considered their best observance. The 
last commanders of the Athens militia were Doc- 
tor William Bacon, Captain, and Doctor Williani 
n. Wells, first Lieutenant, who were elected upon 
tlie distinct understanding that the company was 
never to be called out, and I think they were both 
cashiered by the authorities after a year or two 
had expired for their neglect of duty. 

Pack Wells was keeper of the first livery stable 
in Athens, and chiefly through the influence of 
the students, who were required to perform 
militia duty, and to whom he freely extended 
credit in his line of business, was elected Major. 
Much elated by his promotion, he ordered a bat- 
talion muster. The Major thought it prudent to 
assemble his soldiers in a retired part of the town, 
and drill them somewhat before marching down 
Broad street. Accordingly, the ranks were 
formed on Hancock avenue, in front of his liver </ 
stable, which then stood a little north of Mrs. 
Blanton Hill's front yard. It is beyond my power 



69 



to give any description of the attempt to form 
that battalion. The students could not resist 
the temptation to turn the affair into ridicule. 
Their love of fun overcame their desire to obtain 
credit with the Major, while the citizen soldiery 
cheerfully contributed their aid to carry out the 
plan. A strange diversity of opinion prevailed 
in regard to right and left, and as they were 
equally divided on this cjuestion, the order to 
"face" or "wheel" resulted in inextricable confu- 
sion. It is enough to say that the battalion never 
got out of Hancock avenue, though the students 
were exceedingl_v anxious to prolong the fun by 
marching down Broad street. The Major in 
disgust resigned his honors immediately after- 
wards. 

In the war of 1812, when a call was made upon 
the counties for volunteers, the armsbearing 
population of Clarke county — all males between 
18 and 45 — assembled at Watkinsville and were 
formed into a regiment. After one or two short 
addresses to "fire the hearts" of the men, a drum 
and fife starting the head marched down in front 
of the regiment, closely followed by Captain 
James Meriwether inviting all who desired to 
form a rifle company to fall in as he passed the 
line. The men could scarcely stand still until the 
music passed, and sprang into line with a leap as 
joyful as if joining a marriage festival. Meri- 
wether's quota was soon full — a splendid looking 



70 



company and was called into service a month 
afterwards. Soon after another company was 
formed, both joining General Taylor's command 
and did good service at the battles of Autosee 
and Calabee Swamp. These men attained a 
wonderful degree of accuracy in rifle practice. 
For the greater part of them, one of the company 
would not hestitate to hold the target between 
his knees to be fired at from the distance of 80 
or 100 yards. 

The Cherokee Indians, our near neighbors, 
were with few exceptions friendly, and although 
we were within fifteen miles of their territory, no 
anxiety was felt nor danger apprehended and 
consequently no means of repelling aggression, 
adopted. But about a year after the war had be- 
gun our town was thrown into a state of dis- 
tracting alarm by a runner who brought the in- 
formation that a party of Indian warriors had 
crossed the Apalachee and attacked a family 
murdering some of them, and taking whatever 
they could carry away, had returned across the 
river. 

This news was received with general in- 
credulity, but as the day advanced other persons 
coming from the neighborhood confirmed the 
report of the murder, but said the number of 
marauders did not exceed ten or a dozen. Later 
in the day rumors were current that the party 
consisted of a hundred warriors ; that the people 



71 



of the settlement were flying in all directions ; 
that the Indians so far from retreating had visited 
other plantations and were advancing towards 
Athens and that the attack upon the town would 
be made that night. Some of the men and all 
of the women and children were in the greatest 
state of alarm, and the students of the College 
in the highest excitement. Mr. Thomas, Judge 
Clayton, Colonel Carnes, President Brown and 
others having carefully sifted the evidence came 
to the conclusion that a few Indians, perhaps 
five or six, had made an inroad, and after killing 
some members of a family had retreated with the 
plunder as rapidly as they came and were proba- 
bly by that time on the west side of the Chat- 
tahoochee. They found it impossible, however, 
to allay the fears of the women, who of course 
believed that they were the special objects of the 
expected raid. So it was determined to invite 
all the women and children of the town who 
desired to do so, to take refuge during the night 
in the College, which would be cheerfully vacated 
by the students, who under command of a suitable 
captain should keep guard over the building 
and its precious contents. 

Dr. William Green, the Professor of Mathe- 
matics, as brave an Irishman as ever left the 
Emerald Isle, had made the suggestion and was 
placed in command of the forces. But litely 
arrived in this country, the commander-in-chief 



72 



was totally ignorant of the Indians and their 
mode of warfare. He was therefore very much 
excited and favored putting ourselves in the best 
possible state of defence. We had no cannon, 
no block house, no breastworks, no muskets ; so 
the citizens had to depend upon the students, 
who armed with shot guns and a few rifles stood 
awaiting the fearful attack, by night, of a savage 
foe. But Dr. Green and the boys were masters 
of the situation, and the fair refugees committed 
themselves to their guardianship with unfalter- 
ing faith in their courage and devotion. 

Some of the ladies went into the College under 
serious apprehensions of clanger, c»thers, and 
especially the younger, for a frolic. Of these re- 
fugees, I know but one who is living now — one 
whose character is as lovely after the frosts of 
seventy winters have whitened her locks as her 
person was beautiful and attractive when a girl. 
The students would have shed their blood in her 
defence with infinite pleasure, as they averred. I 
allude to that estimable lady, relict of Major 
Jacob Phinizy and mother of Thomas M. Meri- 
wether, Esq., of Newton county. No doubt she 
still remembers that memorable night, the only 
one perhaps she ever passed in a College for 
boys. 

Captain Green detailed a patrol around the 
College and established pickets at various points 
along the Jefferson road as far as Mr. Sam 



73 

Wier's blacksmith shop, which was then where 
Mr. Nat Barnard hves. Between that and Mrs. 
Deloney's house was thick forest. The picket 
guards were reheved every two hours and it fell 
to the lot of the writer, armed with his father's 
shot gun, loaded with buck shot, to stand guard 
at Wier's shop, in company with two other boys, 
the last two hours of the night. We were 
charged to keep awake, for it was ever the habit 
of the Indians to make their attacks just before 
day, and ours was the most important post and 
the most dangerous time. For a very short time 
we gazed up the road ; then the excitement and 
fatigue of the day, the chilly night air and the 
attractive warmth of a neighboring coal klin, 
overcame our respect for orders and in less than 
ten minutes we w'ere all asleep. Sometime after 
day break Mr. Wier awoke us, saying, that doubt- 
less the Indians were afraid to attack such brave 
soldiers and we might as well return to camp, 
which advice we immediately adopted. When 
we reached headquarters we found no soldiers, 
no officer to receive our report which we had 
prepared with considerable care. The College 
was evacuated, everybody seemed asleep ; and it 
seemed as if nobody cared whether the Indians 
had captured or killed us, so we dispersed to our 
homes in disgust. About fifty years later when 
the writer in company with other Thunderbolts, 
stood for five hours at the Market House await- 



74 

ing the advance of Stoneman's Raiders, with 
a double barrelled shot gun. loaded with twenty- 
eight buckshot, he did not feel as much like a 
soldier as on that other occasion at Wier's shop. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Samuel Wier came to Athens with nothing but 
his wife, a set of blacksmith's tools and an in- 
domitable determination to make a living. But 
in that wife he had what was more to him than 
thousands of money. She was very handsome, 
considerably above medium size, the picture of 
perfect health, with the rosiest, freshest com- 
plexion, which no exposure to wind or weather 
could change and naught but age could cause to 
fade. Mr. Wier rented a small cabin at the place 
mentioned above, built him a shop, and solicited 
the patronage of the public. He had a field of 
fresh land which he planted when there was no 
work to be done in the shop, or as he called it 
"when he was resting." Occasionally the shop 
and the crop needed his attention simultaneously, 
and then it was that his young, hopeful, strong- 
hearted wife would encourage him, not only by 
kind words but with good deeds. She would help 
him in the shop by blowing the bellows, and if 
need be, striking with the sledge-hammer. She 
would help him in the field, working in the hot 
sun, and even after nightfall, helping him to save 
his fodder, in the mean while attending to all the 
household duties which devolve upon a poor 



75 



man's wife. With such courage and industry, 
success was not doubtful. They prospered, 
securing the confidence and esteem of all their 
neighbors. Air. Wier accumulated some pro- 
perty and in declining life was easy and com- 
fortable in his circumstances. 

The first four-wheeled buggy, so called, used 
in x\thens, was made for Mr. Elizur Newton in 
1825. Prior to that date gigs for the few, and 
riding horses for many were the usual modes of 
locomotion, though a carriage was occasionally 
seen. Goods were of course transported by 
wagon and the teamster of the day was the very 
roughest of characters. He religiously abjured 
the use of soap and water to his person or clothes 
during a round trip of a fortnight or three weeks 
— cooking, eating, sleeping at night over 
lightwood knot fires, splashing through mud and 
mire and heaving at the wheels when stalled dur- 
ing the day, being a mode of life unfriendly to 
cleanliness. The wagoners manifested a marked 
dislike to well dressed persons whom they met 
upon the road, and rarely allowed them to pass 
without some rude, if not insulting, jest. "Hallo 
my friend," said one to me as I passed him, 
"what's that hanging to your leg?" I looked 
down to see, and before I could raise my head 
he answered himself, "Oh I believe it's nothing 
but your foot." 

Their independence is shown in the following 



76 



incident: Mr. Andrew Graham received by mail 
from Augusta an invoice of goods shipped by 
wagon, together with the wagoner's receipt 
After waiting a reasonable time for their ariivaL 
Mr. Graham wrote to his merchant in Augusta, 
who could give him no information about the 
teamster other than that he had applied for a load 
of goods for the up country. Mr. Graham failing 
to learn anything of the man, gave up his g- >ods 
for lost. About three weeks afterwards the 
wagoner drove up with the goods, all safe and 
sound except the cutting of a few boxes by the 
rats. He said that he lived in Green County 
and came by home from Augusta, that he found 
his crop so grassy he was obliged to stop and 
plow it over; as soon as he had done that he lost 
no time, but started o& immediately. 

The public roads during the winter were gen- 
erally in a wretched condition and a large portion 
of the road between Lexington and Washington 
would in these days be pronounced impassable, 
Rutledge's lane was a notoriously bad place 
and many marvellous stories told of the mis- 
fortunes which befell travelers and wagoners in 
that ill-fated road. The merchants and farmers, 
the one to buy goods, the other to sell cotton and 
tobacco, always went on horseback, and three 
days of steady riding were required to go from 
Athens to Augusta. A loaded wagon required 
a week, if the roads were in good condition. A 



77 



good load for a four horse team was 2,500 to 
3,000 lbs., and the price for carrying never less 
than one dollar a hundred ; but in the winter of 
181 7- 1 8 the merchants paid as high as four dol- 
lars a hundred on freight from Augusta to 
Athens. That was a fearful winter. The roads 
were in such a condition that for miles the horses 
would walk in mud deeper than their knees, and 
after making one trip, not only the hair but in 
many cases the skin would be entirely removed 
from their legs from the constant attrition. 

The first cotton raised west of the Oconee river 
grew on an acre or two of land on the river at 
the mouth of the spring branch where now stand 
some small houses belonging to the Factory Com- 
pany. Daniel Easley, making a tour on business 
into the low country of Georgia brought back 
with him a bushel of cotton seed, but neglected 
to inform himself how to cultivate the plant. 
Supposing from the size of the seed they should 
be sown broadcast, he carefully prepared the 
ground and plowed in the seed precisely as he 
would have done a bushel of wheat or oats. Of 
course the cotton could not be cultivated, but the 
fertile soil and a favorable season yielded a cap- 
ital crop considering the manner of its treatment. 
I have heard old people say it was the whitest 
cotton patch they ever saw. It was not picked 
out until all had opened that came to maturity, 
and this was the beginning of the reign of King 



78 



Cotton in all the parts of his dominon west of 
the Oconee River, for the river counties south 
of the Clarke were then an Indian territory. 

Up to that time, and indeed later, the staple 
production of this region was tobacco, and long 
after cotton was cultivated in Clarke, Jackson 
and Franklin counties were considered too near 
the mountains to raise it at all, and tobacco con- 
tinued to be the crop of the country. Well do I 
remember to have seen year after year hogsheads 
of tobacco roll through the streets on their way 
to Augusta, drawn by two small horses then 
called tackeys. At first cotton was cultivated in 
small acres and farmers spoke of the cotton patch 
as they did of the turnip patch, so that the name 
adhered to the cotton field even after it was en- 
larged to a hundred acres. 

I am reminded, by speaking of Easly's cotton 
patch on the river, of the most beautiful place 
for small boys to bathe and learn to swim that 
was ever made. It was just below the site of the 
factory, and seemed to be made for the purpose. 
It was between the bank of the river and a small 
island, and was about fifty yards long, and in no 
place more than four feet deep, with a smooth, 
sandy bottom, and was made by a ledge of rocks 
which extended from the bank to the island at 
its lower end. It was perfectly secluded, and the 
limbs of the large trees that grew on the banks 
almost met over the pool. The greater portion 



79 



of the ledge was above water and made a dry, 
clean table for the boys to undress. Here they 
all learned to swim, an accomplishment which 
every boy in Athens acquired at an early age. 
This pool continued to be the delightful resort 
of the small fry until destroyed by the blasting for 
the waterway for the cotton mill. 

Before the introduction of the cotton gin, the 
seed were picked out by hand, and it was the 
custom of the country to require of each member 
of the family, black and white, over twelve years 
of age, during the long winter evenings, to pick 
the seed from a pound of cotton. This task the 
young people performed very cheerfully, making 
it an occasion of fun and frolic. 

The first cotton gin brought to Athens was set 
up by Mr. Thomas on the spot now occupied by 
Mr. Edward Clayton (the old Branch State 
Bank). Here all the cotton made in the neigh- 
borhood was ginned for some years ; Mr. Thomas 
buying it in the seed from farmers and himself 
preparing it for market. He had a tall powerful 
negro named Joe, who was looked upon with 
some regard because he could pack a round bale 
weighing 300 lbs. in a day. The cotton then 
cultivated was the old green seed variety and was 
hard to pick. The locks were firmly attached 
to the bolls defying the stormy winds of winter ; 
and a patch was never picked over more than 
twice and rarely more than once. Fifty pounds 
was a task for an average hand. 



80 



It was the custom for the planter, when his 
cotton had nearly or quite all opened, to invite 
his neighbors to a cotton picking and prizes were 
offered for the best pickers. While the men and 
boys were picking in the field, the women and 
girls of the neighborhood would be quilting in the 
house. The most abundant supply, of good eat- 
ing was provided for all, and if a negro fiddler 
could be found the day's frolic would often wind 
up with a dance. Similar customs prevailed at 
log-rollings, house-raisings and wheat-harvest, 
where men were zvcak-handcd and needed each 
other's help, which was always cheerfully given. 
A neighbor of old Dick Cox's, as he was called, 
Mrs. George King's father, once asked his help 
in harvesting his wheat the next day, which was 
promised. That night Mr. Cox put his negroes 
into the field and by the light of the moon soon 
had it all cut and shocked, and thus the astonished 
neighbor found it the next morning. Such an 
act is perhaps unknown in this generation. 

The first newspaper ever published in Athens 
was established by Rev. John Hodge, and the 
press and type were brought from Philadelphia 
in a road wagon by Mr. John Espey. about 1807. 
The name I do not recollect, but it was designed 
for a religious and literary paper. It was short- 
lived. Mr. Hodge from ill health was obliged 
to abandon the tripod and sold out to Alexander 
McDonnell, a practical printer who had been im- 



81 

ported with the press from Philadelphia. Mc- 
Donnell changed the name of the paper as well 
as its character and called it The Georgia Ex- 
press. He was no writer, and depended for 
original matter entirely upon contributors until 
he associated with him as co-editor Xenophon 
Gaines, who could do the writing for half a dozen 
such papers. Gaines was associated with Mc- 
Donnell about two years and was the man of the 
paper. He was a cripple, very smart, with 
caustic wit and bitter satire, and was unsparing 
of both. He was a small feeble, ill-favored, as 
well as an ill-tempered man, and his infirmities 
doubtless saved him many a thrashing. McDon- 
nell conducted the Express until 1814 and was 
succeeded by Samuel W. Minor, in whose hands 
the paper deteriorated until it was issvied semi- 
occasionally on a piece of paper 12 by 14 inches. 
Minor was exceedingly poor, and had a large 
family, and lived in a little house with two rooms 
near Dr. Henderson's, and in one of these roouT^ 
he set his type and printed his paper. While 
he lived in this house it was struck by lightning, 
and he was himself severely shocked. In the next 
issue of his paper he congratulated himself on 
the event, saving he had always been afraid of 
thunder storms, but should now have no more 
fear, for since the world began it had never hap- 
pened that a man was twice struck by lightning. 
He afterwards moved to a miserable shanty near 



82 



the present site of the factory, and there in one 
room the family cooked, ate and printed the pa- 
per. In one issue of the paper the editor an- 
nounced, as a local item of interest, that "our 
sow" had the night before given birth to nine 
beautiful pigs, and if they all lived, as he hoped 
they would, he should in a short time feel pretty 
independent. How the poor fellow managed to 
live and keep his family alive no one but himself 
ever knew. He was the first man to nominate 
General Andrew Jackson for President, and 
often boasted of that fact after he was elected. 

Minor was succeeded in order of time by Pat- 
rick Robinson, who published an indifferently 
supported paper, called "The Athens Gazette," 
which maintained a feeble existence for a few 
years when it was changed to the "Athenian," 
conducted by Oliver P. Shaw. This paper as- 
sumed a modern dress, dropping the old form of 
the letter S, and became the best literary paper 
in the State. Some years afterwards, Albon 
Chase, and Alfred Nisbet bought the paper 
changing its name to "The Southern Banner." 
Major Ben Perley Poore, not unknown to fame, 
was one of the first editors of the Banner. But this 
brings me into modern times. 

"Say not thou," said Solomon, the wise King, 
"what is the cause that the former days were 
better than these ; for thou dost not inquire wisely 
concerning this." No reasons are given to sup- 



83 



port the truth of this simple ipse dixit, and it is 
a little remarkable that old people of every age 
have "inquired," or rather asserted that the for- 
mer days were better than these. " 'Tis distance 
lends enchantment to the view," for certain it is, 
that for conveniencies of life, rapidity of transit, 
dissemination of knowledge and scientific ac- 
quirements, the present age is far in advance of 
the past as the times of which I write surpass the 
dark ages. But the human heart remains the 
same. Manners and customs change, but men 
will love and hate to the end of time. To love 
the good and hate the evil is the lessen of life. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The interest with which the reminiscences of 
my father were read emboldened me, in 1893, to 
add some imperfect sketches of Athens from 
1830 to 1865. 

The frequent calls for copies of that little pam- 
phlet, the edition of which has long since been 
exhausted, and the urgent requests from many 
friends to reprint it have induced me to revise 
the work, correcting errors where they have been 
discovered, and adding much which I have since 
gathered about the history of Athens and her 
people. 

These sketches are of necessity very imperfect, 
but such facts as are given are real facts, and not 
fancies, and much care has been taken to cor- 
roborate them bv satisfactory evidence. 



84 

The period covered by the four years of the 
war is of especial interest, and it is to be regretted 
that it could not have been treated more in de- 
tail. A. L. HULL. 

October, 1906. 

In reviewing the reminiscences of Dr. Hull, 
some old landmarks are called to mind which at 
this time of strenuous progress have completely 
disappeared from sight. The history of these old 
places go far to make up the annals of Athens, 
which it is my desire to preserve. The newspa- 
pers of those early days did not teem with local 
news, and "personals" were unknown. For weeks 
the weekly paper would make no reference to 
local occurrences, I presume because the entire 
community knew all about them long before the 
paper was issued, and it was thought, therefore, 
unnecessary. 

The paper referred to by Dr. Hull as i semi- 
religious paper was the Athens Gazette. Mr. 
Hodge, the editor, was a Presbyterian preacher. 
Clerk of the Court of Ordinary, Secretary of the 
Board of Trustees, Treasurer of the University, 
and perhaps held other appointments. The first 
issue of the Gazette appeared in February, 1814. 
In t8i6 it was sold to Samuel ^liner, who had 
previously published the Georgia Express and run 
it for I do not know how long. In 1828 Oliver 
P. Shaw published The AtJienian, which was a 
very creditable paper, well edited and well print- 



85 



ed. Albon Chase, who came to Athens in 183 1, 
became associated with Shaw, eventually bought 
him out and changed both name and politics of 
The Athenian, and issued The Banner in 1834. 
Files of these old papers are now in the Univer- 
sity library and make very interesting reading on 
a rainy day. From these old files we cull some 
ancient history. 

The Athens Gazette first saw the light 
in a fateful time. It was during the war of 
181 2, and times were hard. It is true that cotton 
was bringing 29 cents per pound, but there was 
very little raised about Athens. Sugar was 25 
cents per pound, bacon 14 cents. The paper on 
which the Gazette was printed was double thick 
and very rough, and the ink seems to have been 
made of lampblack and axle grease. Even corre- 
spondence was high. Postage on letters was 6 
cents for distances up to thirty miles, 10 centb up 
to eighty miles, 12 1-2 cents up to one hundred 
and fifty miles, and 25 cents over four hundred 
miles. One page of the paper was given up to 
literary miscellany, including quantities of poetry. 
The bulk of the reading matter consisted 01 de- 
bates in Congress and news from abroad. The 
latter traveled slowly. The startling intelligence 
of Napoleon's return from Elba and the battle 
of Waterloo was received in Athens one month 
after it occurred. 

There was a fair patronage by advertisers in 



86 



these old papers. Joseph Stevens offered 6 1-4 
cents reward for the return of a runaway appren- 
tice boy, and Mrs. Smith in announcing the open- 
ing of a school for young ladies in Athens prom- 
ised that "a music master would be employed to 
give lessons on the forte piano." 

Here is a sample of the literary contributions 
which the editor of the Athenian pronounced 
good: 

"O, green and glorious spring ! how beautiful 
thou art ! Oh, 'tis sweet when the last lingering 
star has faded into dimness, when the first grey 
dawn is trembling in the east, to wander forth 
and feel the fresh breath of morn and barken to 
its low, soft murmurings amid the forest leaves ; 
to list the gay carol of the woodland songster re- 
joicing in the light of new-born day ! At such 
an hour I love to be alone. I love to seek the 
blissful solitude of thought that I may indulge 
the dear, delightful reveries of fancy," etc., etc. 

A ladies' fair was advertised to occur at early 
candlelight. "The specific object of the fair," 
said the editor, "we are unacquainted with, but 
it is understood it is for charitable purposes.' 

An injured husband, disclaiming responsibiiity 
for his wife's debts, quotes from Pope : 

"O, woman, woman I whether lean or fat 
In face an angel, Init in .soul a cat." 



87 



Advertisements of runaway negroes appeared 
invariably accompanied by the picture of a 
stumpy negro walking away with his clothes tied 
up in a handkerchief and swinging from a btick 
over his shoulder. Some of these advertisers 
showed no little originality, and would attract 
attention even in this day of crowded columns. 

Miss Millie Rutherford has an interesting old 
paper, written in a formal copper-plate hand, be- 
ginning as follows : 

"Several ladies of Clarke county assembled at 
Trail Creek, M. H., July 13, 1819. The follow- 
ing Constitution was prepared and adopted : 

"Article i. This society shall be known by the 
name of the Female Mite Society of Athens and 
Vicinity." 

This organization had no connection with the 
arachnid common to chicken coops, but was aux- 
iliary to the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, 
and a condition of membership was that each 
person should pay annually to the Treasurer at 
least 52 cents. 

Mrs. Martha J. Cobb, afterwards Mrs. Henry 
Jackson, was First Directress ; Mrs. Martha 
Jones, Second Directress ; Mrs. Sarah Cole, Sec- 
retary ; and Mrs. Lucy Thornton, Treasurer. 
Among the members were Mrs. Julia Clayton, 
Mrs. Catherine Newton, Mrs. Lucy Cary, Mrs. 
Susan Moore, Mrs. Sarah King, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Espey, Mrs. Eliza Waddell, Mrs. Dougherty, who 



88 



were Methodists and Presbyterians, and Mrs. 
Catherine Freeman, Mrs. Sarah R. Cobb and 
Miss Serena R. Rootes, who were Baptists. 
Among the contributors are the names of A. S. 
Clayton, John A. Cobb, WilHam H. Jackson, S. 
Thomas, Henry Jackson, Charles J. Jenkins 
(then a student in college). Dr. Brown, Ebenezer 
Newton, Josiah Newton and Mrs. "Marreon 
Greeve.". Mrs. Grieve was the mother of Mrs. 
Joseph Henry Lumpkin, and lived in Lexington. 

This was the first Missionary Society ever 
formed in Athens, and was non-denominational 
although the funds collected were forwarded to 
the Baptist Board. 

At that time there was no Baptist church nor 
Presbyterian church in Athens. Trail Creek 
meeting house was the nearest Baptist place of 
worship, and Hopewell, near Lexington, the near- 
est Presbyterian church. 

We should not pass from this period without 
some notice of President Meigs, who in his day, 
by virtue of his office, was perhaps the most 
prominent citizen of the village. 

Josiah Meigs, the first active president ot che 
L^niversity of Georgia, was a native of Connecti- 
cut, the thirteenth child of his parents, born in 
1757. His eldest brother, Colonel Return J. 
]Meigs, was a distinguished officer of the Revo- 
lution, and the father of the Postmaster General 
under President Monroe. 



89 

Josiah Meigs graduated at Yale College at ihe 
age of 21. In 1781 he was appointed tutor of 
mathematics and natural philosophy, and in 1794 
professor in the same chair in that institution. 
In the meantime he was married, and removed 
to Bermuda for the practice of law, a profession 
for which, however, he seemed to have but little 
taste. His tenure of office at Yale was brief. 
The Dwights made a bitter fight on him on ac- 
count of his "Jefifersonian Democracy," as we 
call it now — "Republicanism" it was known then 
— and the trustees relieved him of his chair in 
1798. 

Upon his acceptance of the presidency of the 
University of Georgia he at once entered with 
ardor upon the work. A man of great energy, 
fearless, honest and pure, he gave all his abilities 
to the upbuilding of the college. In person he 
was tall and spare, with blue eyes and florid 
complexion, blessed with perfect health, which 
was uninterrupted until his last and fatal ill- 
ness. In manner he was affable and kind, but 
quickly aroused and especially excitable on the 
subject of politics. In fact, he suffered for his 
political views at Athens as he had at Yale, for 
it was the free expression of his opinions that 
brought about the immediate causes of his re- 
moval from the presidency and the loss of his 
professorship. 

In 1808 the board "learned with sincere regret 



90 



that the inimber of students in the college are 
reduced from thirty to thirteen, and in the gram- 
mar school from forty to twenty-five." A com- 
mittee was appointed "to enquire into the re- 
ports which affect the reputation of the presi- 
dent of the college, as well as the moral chata*.-- 
ter and discipline of the institution." What the 
result of this inquiry was is not known, but two 
years later Mr. Aleigs resigned the presidency, 
retaining the professorship of mathematics and 
natural philosophy. For the performance of 
these duties "with attention and diligence" he 
was to receive the sum of $1,200 per annum. 

This action of the trustees Mr. Meigs seems 
to have acceded to e.v necessitate, but it embit- 
tered his relations with them, as shown in the 
following affidavits found recorded in the min- 
utes : 

"Hope Hull, one of the members of this board, 
gives the following information and exhibits the 
same as charges against Mr. Professor Meigs, 
which charges should be inquired into, viz. : 
That to the best of his recollection the day after 
adjournment of the board in August last, and at 
the door of the printing office, he, Mr. Meigs, 
addressing himself to Mr. Hull, uttered in sub- 
stance the following words : 'You have appoint- 
ed Campbelll your secretary. However, I sup- 
pose he will do well enough as secretary for the 
Tories ! Mr. Meigs has further said in the 



91 

presence of Mr. Hull, that 'the State of Georgia 
had great reason to thank God for one honest 
man — Judge Early — if it had not been for him 
the lands belonging to the institution would have 
been sold and the money pocketed,' and many 
other expressions and observations of a similar 
import, but not now precisely recollected. 
"(Signed.) Hope Hull. 

"Sworn to before me, this 8th August, 1811, 
at Athens. 

"RoBLRT Walker, Judge. 

-Vnd the following: 

''In a conversation with Mr. Meigs a few days 
after the adjournment of the board in August 
last, upon the subject of the congressional and 
county elections, he observed in substance as 
follows: 'You' (addressing himself to me) 'can 
not think to gain the confidence of the people 
after your conduct relative to the college lands. 
But I cannot so much blame you, for you are a 
tool of other great men.' But for one honest 
man, or the only honest man among them, the 
board of trustees would have sold the college 
lands and would have squandered the money to 
their own uses. They were all a damned pack or 
band of Tories and speculators, and if they had 
have {sic) turned him out of office he would 
have published their villainy and dishonesty to 
the world and have shown them in their proper 
colors. They had made him professor of natural 



92 



philosophy and chemistry and given him a poor, 
pitiful salary of twelve hundred dollars — damn 
them — he reckoned they would make him next 
professor of cabbages and turnips — and much 
more such conversation not now detailed, but 
the above is the substance of the conversation. 
"(Signed) Augustin S. Clayton. 

"Sworn to before me, this 8th April, 1811, at 
Athens. 

"Robert Walker, Judge." 

Mr. Meigs was given an opportunity for de- 
fense against these charges, but whatever he 
replied it was evidently not satisfactory, for 
"having this day heard the defense of Mr. Pro- 
fessor Meigs and the affidavits exhibited in sup- 
port thereof, and having maturely considered 
the same, together with the charges and proofs 
exhibited against him, the board are of opinion 
that he hath been guilty of great misconduct and 
ought to be removed from his office. Where- 
upon, resolved, that Josiah Meigs be, and he is 
hereby removed from the office of professor of 
mathematics, natural philosophy and chemistry 
in Franklin College." 

Left stranded by his dismissal, not only poor, 
but in debt, Mr. Meigs remained in Athens until 
1 81 2, when Mr. Jefferson, to whom he was well 
known, secured for him the appointment of sur- 
veyor general, with his office at Cincinnati. Two 
vears later he was made Commissioner of the 



93 



general land office and removed to Washington, 
where he lived until his death, which occurred 
September 4th, 1822. His widow, Dr. Charles 
D. Meigs, the distinguished physician of Phil- 
adelphia, Henry Meigs, a prominent lawyer of 
New York, and other children survived him. 
His daughter, Clara, married Mr. John Forsyth, 
one of Georgia's most honored sons. General 
M. C. Meigs, quartermaster general of the 
I'nited States during the war, was his grandson, 
and many others of his descendants are now liv- 
ing in New York and Philadelphia. 

The grandfather of President Meigs was a stiff 
old Puritan in Connecticut. On an interesting 
occasion in the family he was sitting awaiting 
news, when the nurse ran in and said: "Mr. 
Meigs, it is a girl !" "Silence,' said the austere 
father. "In a little while the nurse rushed back 
and said: "Mr. Meigs, there is another girl!" 
Folding his hands resignedly, he said: "Submit,'' 
and they named the babies Silence and Submit, 
and in the old graveyard in a Connecticut town 
there is a little stone on which are carved the 
names : "Silence and Submit Meigs," who died 
m infancy. 

CHAPTER VH. 
Athens was incorporated as a town in De- 
cember, 1 81 5. The act required that an election 
should be held for commissioners, and named 
the college chapel as the place for the election. 



94 

In fact at that time all public meetings of every 
description — concerts, shows and preaching 
services — were held in the college chapel. There 
was no other place in which to meet. The com- 
missioners were to elect their own chairman, 
and were authorized, among other things, to 
impose a penalty of corporeal punishment not 
exceeding thirty-nine lashes for any one of^ease 
(people of color excepted). The Oconee river 
was the corporate line. The commissioners im- 
posed a tax of 3 cents on $ioo on property, 
12 1-2 cents each on slaves, and $2 for liquor 
license. That surely was an ideal Athens. 

A tour of the town in 1830 would have re- 
vealed but few of the houses now standing. The 
Athens Factory was not yet built. The bridge 
over the river was below the mouth of the 
branch, and at low water the stumps of the old 
timbers could be seen but a few years ago. Near 
the spring was a miserable shanty, once the 
office of the Georgia Express and the residence 
of its editor, printer and publisher. Six houses 
stood on Oconee street, three of them still to be 
seen — the boarding house next to the bridge, the 
old Hodgson house, with its ancient cedars, then 
owned by Mr. William Lumpkin, and that at 
the crossing of the Central railroad. This last 
was the crack hotel of the place, kept by Lean- 
der Erwin, and had eight rooms for the accom- 
modation of its guests. On Foundry street — 



95 



not a street then, however — the mother of the 
late Mr. Ehzur Newton Hved in the old Wilker- 
son house, the frame of which still stands, in a 
different place, clad in a new covering. Between 
this and the upper bridge there w-as no house. 
Near the bridge was a grog shop, which was 
afterwards carried down the river in the great 
Harrison freshet. 

On Hoyt street were three dwellings, two 
still standing — Dr. Hoyt's old residence, now 
belonging to Mr. Pittman, and Dr. Linton's, and 
the third, which Dr. Ware removed to make way 
for the present home of Dr. E. S. Lyndon. 

Coming down Jackson street we pass Or. 
Nisbet's house, afterward Mr. Lampkin's, now 
turned around and renewed, and the home of 
the elder Mrs. Franklin, later known as the 
Weatherly place, which was burned about twenty 
years ago while occupied by Mr. Bernard. On 
the corner of Mrs. Frierson's lot stood a small 
wagon shop, and diagonally opposite Mrs. De- 
maris Baldwin lived in the Lumpkin house. Capt. 
Brumby's house was the home of Dr. Waddell, 
the President of the University Dr. Henry 
Hull lived just opposite in a house still stand- 
ing, which he built of material from the old of 
his father, and which he sold to Dr. J. B. Carl- 
ton. Mr. Asbury Hull occupied the house on 
Thomas street, so long the home of Dr. Hull, 
and now owned by W. B. Jackson. Opposite 



96 



the Baptist church was a Httle house afterwards 
removed to the other corner of the Government 
lot, where Mrs. Andrews taught school in after 
years, and recently demolished. The Dougher- 
ty house, which lately gave way to the City 
Hall, was then an attractive residence 

On Hancock avenue was a two-room house 
on the Vincent corner, and the "Athens Hotel," 
which, clothed in a new dress, stands next below 
the Methodist church. Farther down, the old 
Harden house, Mrs. Reese's just opposite, and 
a small cottage on the site of Mr. John Moss' 
completed the list. At Mr. Fleming's comer 
was a blacksmith shop, and on the Nevitt lot the 
Rev. Mr. Wallis had a flourishing female school. 
There were no other houses on Prince avenue 
until we reached the Manual Labor School op- 
posite Mr. Upson's, and Hill street was a neigh- 
borhood road. 

The Methodist church was on its present site, 
given through the liberality of Mr. Thomas 
Hancock. The old building was removed to the 
foot of Hancock avenue and given to the ne- 
groes when the brick church was burnt. Mrs. 
Mathews' house, built by Dr. Alexander B. Lin- 
ton, and the old Henderson house, now the 
Windsor hotel, built by the father of Col. John 
T. Grant, were then new and handsome resi- 
dences. On Col. Morton's lot a two-story frame 
house, now occupied by his servants was the 



97 

home of Professor Stephen Olin, of the Uni- 
versity, while Professor Jackson lived in Mr. 
Stanley's house on Dearing street, across the 
branch. 

There were no other houses in this part of 
town, and Lumpkin street was the ''road to Wat- 
kinsville." Dr. Benedict's, Dr. R. M. Smith's 
old home, removed from the opera house lot, 
and the old Clayton house, next to Moss' ware- 
house, were among the elegant residences of the 
town. 

The only house south of the compress was the 
Lucas place, the home of Mr. John Nisbet, fur- 
nished with all the conveniences which taste and 
wealth could procure at that day, and where hos- 
pitality was dispensed without stint. 

On the present site of the Academic building, 
on the campus, the Presbyterian church, latelv 
dedicated by Dr. Waddell, in 1828, opened its 
doors on Broad street, on either side the high, refi 
pulpit. Some of the old benches were a year ago 
still in use in the Presbyterian Sunday school 
room. At this time there were only two other 
churches in the town, the Methodist, and one for 
the negroes. There were several stores, all on 
the north side of Broad street. Stevens Thomas 
did a big business where the Racket Store is. 
Elizur L. Newton, S. J. Mays and W. Letcher 
Mitchell shared in the trade of the town. 

On the National Bank site was what was 



98 



known as "Huggins' Corner." Andrew Graham, 
from western North CaroHna, built the store, 
where he did a thrifty business in everything 
from buttons to billy goats. This old store had 
a low basement for molasses and whiskey, with 
the dry goods and grocery department overhead. 
A convenient porch with a railing adorned the 
front, while comfortable split-bottom chairs in- 
vited customers to stop and chat. Large syca- 
more trees shaded the porch, and altogether it 
was the most popular resort in town. Gentlemen 
of leisure got so in the habit of loafing there 
that when the office of the Southern Mutual 
Insurance Company was built in its place they 
continued the occupation in the same place. 

Mr. Graham was a bachelor, and after his 
death his nephew, John I. Huggins, who had 
been his clerk, succeeded to the business. From 
him the old store was known latterly as "Hug- 
gins' Corner." 

There was a bookstore on the corner of Col- 
lege Avenue, which for many years afterwards 
was occupied for that business by George W. 
Shaw. His brother, Oliver P. Shaw, whose 
political opponents were wont to speak of him 
as "O, Pshaw," published the Athenaeum in the 
second story. The book store was afterwards 
successively kept by Albon Chase, J. S. Peter- 
son and William N. White, and the old frame 
house was torn down in 1857. A fevv' other small 



99 



shops were scattered along Broad street, but there 
were none at all on the south side. Around the 
town spring grew a canebrake, extending from 
Webb & Crawford's store to the Central depot, 
and old Dennis Clayton says he has "jumped 
deer" in it. 

Dennis said that he could remember when the 
Oconee river ran down Broad street, and that 
he caught suckers in front of the Bank. Where- 
upon Sylvanus Morris remarked that they are 
still catching them there. But 1 am sure that 
either Dennis' memory or his veracit\- must be 
at fault. 

On the edge of this canebrake, where G. H. 
Hulme's store is, Major Letcher Mitchell had a 
hotel, which was competing with sharp rivalry 
for public favor with Leander Erwin's. This 
old, rambling house, with yellow doors and a 
labyrinth of passages, was connected in after 
years by a bridge over Thomas street with the 
Franklin house, to which it served as an annex 
during the war, when refugees were glad to oc- 
cupy it. 

Ant)ther house I must not omit was the Athens 
Female Academy, later known as Mrs. Coley's 
School. This lot was donated by the Trustees 
of the University and the house built by subscrip- 
tion. Rev. Thomas Stanley was the teacher at 
this time, and it was the principal school for girls 
in the town. 



100 

These houses, with those previously mentioned 
anf! a few smaller ones foin:ecl the vjliage in 
1830. Communication with the outer world was 
throuo;h a line of stages to Augusta. The people 
\\ere in no hurry for the news, and a matter of 
the weekly papers failing to arrive was of no 
serious importance or inconvenience. 

I5ut though, as compared with the present day, 
the people of Athens lived quiet lives, thev were 
by no means slumberers. 

The Georgia Railroad, one of the most im- 
])ortant enterprises in the State, had its incep- 
tion in .\thens. The first meeting in its interests 
was held here in June, 1833, with Mr. Asbury 
Hull as chairman, and he introduced the bill for 
its incorporation in the Legislature the same 
}-ear. For many years the annual meetings were 
held here, and all its directors were Athens men 
until it was completed. The Board of Directors 
in 1835 '^'^'ss composed of James Camak, William 
WMJams, John A. Cobb, Ehzur L. Newton, Alex 
B. Linton. James Shannon, W. M. Morton, W. 
R. Cunningham and one representative from Au- 
gusta. The road was originally intended to run 
between Augusta and Athens, and a branch road 
to Greensboro was contemplated. Subsequently 
the Greensboro branch became the main stem 
<:xi ended to Atlanta, and Athens wus left on the 
br.-.nch road. 



101 

The Branch Bank of the State of Georgia was 
estabhshed in 1834, with Mr. James Camak as 
President, and Mr. Asbury Hull as Cashier. The 
building now converted into a hotel on Clayton 
Street, was erected, serving both the purposes 
of a bank and the Cashier's residence. The 
business was conducted here for twenty years, 
and then continued in the National Bank build- 
ing. 

In 1829 an Athenian pressed oil from cotton 
seed which he used in machines and in lamps. 
His methods however were too crude to make it 
profitable. 

In March 1829 dirt was broken for the Georgia 
Factory then called the Athens Manufacturing 
Company. The factory was built by Judge Clay- 
ton, John Nisbet, William Dearing and Abram 
Walker as a protest against the high tariff on 
manufactured goods. John Johnson superin- 
tended the building and was the manager of the 
business. The factory was in operation in Feb- 
ruary 1830. 

The Athens Factory was built by William 
Dearing and John Nisbet, on the present site, 
and soon after its completion, was destroyed by 
fire. It was rebuilt, and in the great Harrison 
along with the mill and all the bridges. Again 
freshet of 1840, one wing was washed away, 
rebuilt, it was again destroyed by fire in 1856, 
after which the present substantial brick build- 



102 



ings, erected by the energy of the Superintendent, 
Dr. John S. Linton, replaced the old wooden ones. 
The first fire in 1834 brought out the suggestion 
of a fire company, which did not materialize, 
however, for many years. 

Mr. William Williams built Princeton Factory 
and some years later Dr. John S. Linton and 
Albon Chase built the Pioneer. Paper Mill at a 
cost of $32,000, which was the first paper mill 
built south of the I^otomac River. 

In 1828 the population of Athens was 583 
whites and 517 blacks, and it was the boast of 
the Atlicnaciiui that we had "onl}- 499 less than 
Alilledgeville." There were 26 four wheeled car- 
riages besides gigs and sulkeys and there were 
26 widows in the town. In 1830 the population 
had increased to 1434 and we were catching up 
with Milledgeville. I dont know how many of 
the 26 widows had married but the other enter- 
prises referred to make a pretty good showing 
to--- a town of seven hundred white people. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The tariff was a vital question in Athens at 
the time of which I write. At commencement a 
great anti-tariff meeting was held at which Will- 
iam H. Crawford presided, and George M. 
Troup, John McPherson Berrien, Augustin S. 
Clayton, Wilson Lumpkin and George R. Gilmer 
were speakers. 

The students, full of patriotic zeal, held a mass 



103 



meeting- at which George F. Pierce took a pro- 
minient part, and resolved to wear only home- 
made goods. The Trnstees met them more than 
half way in adopting as the prescribed uniform 
for students, "a frock-coat made of dark grey 
Georgia homespun, wool and cotton, the seams 
covered with black silk cord or narrow braid, 
black ])uttons and pantaloons of same material, 
corded or braided in the same manner." An 
exception was made in favor of calico, for the 
reason that "morning gowns" of calico were 
quite fashionable, both students and professors 
wearing them on the streets. This garment — 
which must have been a marvel to behold — con- 
sisted of two widths of calico gathered at the 
ueck with a string, buttoned at the waist and 
reaching to the ankles, having loose, flowing 
sleeves. The figure and color was left to the 
taste of the wearer, and there was as great a 
variety as can be seen at a county fair. Fancy 
the Chancellor of the University or the dignified 
Dean of Franklin College sailing down the street 
in a flowered calico morning gown ! 

However with the reality of wearing the home- 
spun, came a cooling of patriotic fervor and a 
petition went up from the boys to repeal the law, 
which, it seems, was cheerfully done. 

One professor who was devoted to the morning 
gown was Dr. Henry Jackson. 

Dr. Jackson, a native of England, came to 



104 



Georgia a youth, not long before the close of 
the eighteenth centurw at the invitation of his 
brother, James Jackson, once governor of 
Georgia. Elected to a professorship in the Uni- 
versity in 1811, he proved to be a valuable ac- 
quisition to the faculty, a scholar of great scienti- 
fic attainments and a gentleman of many fine 
traits of character. When William H. Crawford 
went as minister to the court of France, Dr. 
Jackson was invited to go with him as secretar}- 
of legation. Obtaining leave of absence from the 
Trustees, he went to France and was in Paris 
during the "hundred days reign" after Napo- 
leon's return from Elba. 

While passing through Washington on his 
way abroad, he met a lady to whom he was 
singularly attracted, but the fact of her husband 
being very much alive was an insuperable objec- 
tion to his making it known to her. On his re- 
turn from France, he heard that she was a widow 
and so soon as propriety permitted, he paid her 
his addresses and was married to her. The lady 
was the widow of Howell Cobb, a member of 
congress from Georgia and uncle to Governor 
Howell Cobb. 

Dr. Jackson was a conscientious teacher and 
was much admired by the students who were un- 
der his instruction. He passed his latter days 
at "Halscot," his home near Athens, where he 
was wont to receive and entertain his friends 
both voung and old. His son. General Henry 



105 



R. Jackson, one of the most distinguished citizens 
of this State, was born at "Halscot." 

The problem of the disposition of the students 
for a long time exercised the Faculty and Trus- 
tees. At first they boarded anywhere in the 
peighborhood of the college ; then they were 
required to room in the Old College. Later, by 
an act of the Legislature, they were permitted 
to "board at any place within the town or vicinity 
of Athens, provided, they board with moral, re- 
spectable families, of which the president of the 
college shall judge." Then Commons were pro- 
vided, a steward's hall established and maintained 
for a dozen or more years. This Steward's Hall 
was about where Prof. Strahan's house stands 
on the Campus. By resoiii.lon of the Trustees 
in 1820. the quality of board required was: "For 
breakfast, a sufficiency of wholesome cold meat 
with wheaten flour biscuit or loaf bread, butter, 
tea or coffee. For dinner, a course of bacon or 
salted beef, with a suitable proportion of corn 
bread and at least two kinds of vegetables, and 
on Wednesday, to have an after course of pies, 
puddings or pancakes. For each supper, a plenti- 
ful supply of tea or milk, with a sufficiency of 
wheaten flour biscuit and butter." Truly a sub- 
stantial bill of fare and not open to the charge of 
extravagance. 

The board also declared that "students on 
Sabbath afternoons must confine their walks to 
one mile, provided, this healthful and innocent 



106 



indulgence is executed free from anv violation 
of the laws of the college." 

While we are upon the subject of the college, 
it may be said that the Demosthenian Society, 
which was organized in 1803, and had for twenty 
years been holding its meetings in the old school- 
room, now being in a flourishing condition, both 
as to members and funds, built the hall north of 
the chapel which for seventy years has echoed 
the clarion tones of impassioned speakers. A 
new stimulus was given this old mother of de- 
baters by the organization of a rival, the Phi 
Kappa Society, by Joseph Henry Lumpkin and 
others in 1825. For many years these two vied 
with each other for the honors of the college, and 
swore their members with great and inviolable 
oaths to secrets which might not even be thought 
of in the presence of another. 

The campus, which seems to have been open at 
the time, was ordered to be closed "with posts 
and plank in front, and common rails with stakes 
and riders on the other sides." . 

Interment of corpses on the college hill, where 
persons had been in the habit of interring them, 
was prohibited in future, but the commissioners 
of the town of Athens were permitted and author- 
ized to inclose a piece of ground not exceeding 
one acre as a burial ground. The place of inter- 
ments referred to, is now covered by the houses 



107 



cast of the campus, an-l llie "burial ground"' of 
one acre a little farther south, filled with the dead 
of a third of a century, still lies with its tall pines 
standing sentinel over its graves. 

There is another fact that made this pericd of 
our history interesting. In January 1828 the 
mercury fell to zero. In January iS2g it went 
to 3 degrees above and in December 1830 it 
marked the same temperature. But on Fcbn;ary 
4, 1835 ths thermometer at the college registered 
10 below zero, and that day is still spoicen of as 
"the cold Saturday." 

In 1835 the stars fell — that memorable meteoric 
display which frightened hundreds of people who 
believed the day of judgment was at hand. 

In 1830 from June 5th to September 3rd no 
rain fell — the wells went dry, crops dried up, 
branches showed no moisture, cattle had to be 
driven miles for water. Tn^ Oconee River could 
be waded at almost any point and at Augusta 
an ordinary wheel-barrow was trundled across 
the Savannah. 

In the fall of that year the new college caught 
fire and as there was no water to put it out it 
was entirely consumed. The Phi Kappa Hall 
was saved by cutting down green trees and plac- 
ing them against the walls. 

This was the first fire of any consequence in 
the town and it destroyed the college library and 
all the mathematical instruments and apparatus. 



108 



At that time Old College was used as a dormitory 
for the freshmen and sophomores and New Col- 
lege for juniors and seniors, and in each were the 
recitation rooms of the Professors. 

I have heard my father tell of this fire and of 
the heroic work of old John Talmadge in trying 
to save the college. He went every where, seemed 
to be in all places at once and certainly bore a 
charmed life. I have often thought when seeing 
his grandson and namesake in the old days of 
the fire companies that fighting fire must be a 
hereditary trait. 

A month after this disastrous fire one of the 
greatest floods of record occurred. It rained 
from Sunday morning to Tuesday night without 
cessation and fourteen bridges were washed away 
in the vicinity of Athens. 

l)Ut. recurring to the loss of New College, 
the Legislature was asked to make good the loss. 
It was represented to them that when the college 
Iruids were sold they brought the aggregate sum 
of $140,000, for which notes were taken and the 
whole turned over to the State. The State had 
collected $129,000 in cash on these notes and had 
$11,000 in good notes. The State had given the 
University $100,000 interest bearing funds for 
these notes and held a balance of $40,000 which 
of right belonged to the Trustees. As the result 
of this claim the State loaned the Trustees $10,- 
000 and appropriated $6,000 annually for six 



109 

years, so the college was rebuilt at a cost of 
$12350. 

While the burned building was being taken 
down a student of the grammer school named 
Thomas Grant was caught and crushed to death 
by a falling wall. It was a sad accident which 
threw a gloom over the whole community. 

The rebuilding of new college brought two men 
to Athens, who soon took their places among the 
best of her citizens — James R. Carlton and Ross 
Crane. The contract for the work was given 
to them ; they prospered in business, married 
cousins and raised large families. 

There was a complaint made that anybody 
who chose to do so, cut wood indiscriminately 
from the college lands and as much as they 
wanted. In fact the campus itself had been rav- 
aged, so a committee consisting of Judge Clayton, 
Dr. Hull and Dr. Church was appointed by the 
Trustees "to repair the campus and set our trees 
on it." Think of setting out trees in what ought 
to have been a virgin forest of splendid oaks ! 
And all those black locusts and ailanthus of which 
students have asked year after year why they 
were ever put there, owe their planting to that 
committee. But in those days the heaven tree 
was in great favor, both for shade and beauty. 

Among other accessions to the town in 1830 
was Samuel Tenney, who first opened business 
as a sinsfins: master. He must have suc^.eeded 



no 



well for at coniiiiencement a concert by the 
"Society for Improvement of Sacred Music" in 
the Presbyterian Church was crowded, while 
the commencement ball in Erwin's "Assem- 
bl\' Rooms" was but poorly attended. Mr. Ten- 
nev afterwards married Miss Colt, opened a book 
store, sold shoes and bacon sides, and I remem- 
ber him years ago as a benevolent miller in the 
traditional white hat. 

In 1829, Rev. John F. Wallis opened a 
school for young ladies on the Nevitt 
lot. Soon after he had organized his 
school and got it well under way, Mrs. Wallis 
died, leaving a young daughter, and an inconsol- 
able husband. Mr. Wallis offered his home for 
sale and moved to Alabama. The daughter be- 
came the mother of Capt. J. W. Brumby and 
a year or two ago was revisiting her childhood's 
home crowned with the sweet dignity of a life 
well spent. 

Mr. Wallis' house was bought by Col. John A. 
Cobb. The place contained two hundred acres 
and Col. Cobb owned from Barber Street to the 
Normal School. From him all that part of the 
town was called Cobbham. 

Another citizen who came to Athens at this 
time was Albon Chase. He was first associate 
editor of the Athenian which he bought from 
O. P. Shaw and converted into the Athens Ban- 
ner. This he conducted with ability many years. 



Ill 

In the meantime he engaged in the book business 
with J. S. Peterson. With Dr. Linton he built 
the papermill and contributed in many ways to 
the growth of the town. For many years before 
his death Mr. Chase was secretary of the South- 
ern Mutual Insurance Company. He was an 
ardent Democrat and a secessionist of the fire- 
eating type. He never sought an office and 
never forsook a friend. Quiet in manner, cau- 
tious in speech, firm in his convictions, he en- 
joyed the esteem of the entire community. He 
lived for a long time in the Presbyterian Manse, 
then built the house of Mr. Goodloe H, Yancey on 
Dearing Street where he died. 

Still another accession was Thomas Bishop. 
Mr. Bishop came to Athens in 1835 ^^^^ opened 
a modest store on Wall Street behind the old 
postoffice. One of his clerks was Geo. W. Will- 
iams, then fresh from his home, Nacoochee Val- 
ley. Mr. Bishop came upon him one day stand- 
ing idly waiting for a customer with his hands 
in his pocket. "George," said he "you never 
see a man with his hands in his pockets who has 
work to do. Get the broom and sweep the 
store." How much that had to do with making 
the merchant prince of Charleston we cannot 
tell. Absolutely honest in all his dealings, Mr. 
Bishop had the confidence of everybody. He 
was small in statue, clean shaven, with a ruddy 
complexion and very white hair. He was sel- 



112 



(loin seen outside his store except at the Presby- 
terian church, and there, scrupulously neat in 
dress, he appeared every Sunday with the regu- 
larity of the clock. 

Air. Bishop was a Northern man by birth and 
during the trying period of the war he never 
disguised his union sentiments, but such was his 
charity and his honesty that no harsh word was 
ever spoken of him and no suspicion ever at- 
tached to him. 

Air. Bishop was the first man to introduce a 
cooking stove in Athens, and in his advertisements 
when he first came he offered for sale "every- 
thing used to a first class grocery, except liquors." 

In 1829, Dr. Waddell sent in his resignation to 
the Trustees. Efforts were made to induce him 
to withdraw it, but his determination was taken. 
Arrangements were made for suitable ceremonies 
of a public and final leave-taking at the close of 
the commencement exercises, and on the day of 
his departure from home, the faculty and stu- 
dents marched to his house in a body to bid him 
farewell. 

Some of the most distinguished men of the 
country passed out of the University as pupils 
of Dr. Waddell. Eugenius A. Nisbet, George F. 
Pierce, John A. Campbell. Paul F. Eve, Na- 
thaniel M. Crawford, Robert Toombs, John N. 
Waddell, Charles J. Jenkins and many others 
of lesser note, but of wide reputation in their 



113 

own States, received the impress of his character 
while under his instruction at Athens. 

Dr. Waddell returned to Wilhngton and re- 
opened the school he had left ten years before, 
but failing health compelled him to give up the 
work and he came back to Athens to spend the 
remainder of his days. 

CHAPTER X. 

Athens was now beginning to attract the at- 
tention of people from other sections. The Uni- 
versity gave it a tone of intellectuality and cul- 
ture. Its natural advantages, its freedom from 
malaria, its facilities for educating children all 
made it an attractive home. 

As the population increased new lines of busi- 
ness were opened. Among these we note that 
James Hand opened a beef market and Samuel 
Frost an auctioneer's stand, and S. P. Sage a 
jewelry store and A. Brydie a tailoring emporium, 
where "fashions with designs and pictures will 
be received in the course of two weeks." In ad- 
dition to these James Wittee notified the public 
that they might find a livery stable, confection- 
eries and meals at the "Coffee House" (we would 
say Cafe now) directly on the upper end of Main 
Street, leading to the Botanical Garden. This 
must have been on the site of the Windsor Hotel. 
Then "Mr. Washington Brown informs the ladies 
and gentlemen of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, 



114 



South and North Carohna and Virginia that he 
intends visiting them for the purpose of teaching 
Penmanship in ah its various branches, viz: 
Centeel, Ornamental. Round, ItaHan, Sharp, 
Single, Flowery, Ditto Inverse, Double Ditto, 
Hieroglyphic and Business hand will be taught 
on the even and odd symmetrw" That is perfectly 
clear to those who understand it and I suppose 
some did at that time. 

The merchants too were becoming indepen- 
dent for they advertised that "'after August ist 
they will not send out or allow to be sent out from 
their stores any articles except shoes, corsets, 
corded skirts and Bishop sleeves b\- a servant for 
his owner to select therefrom." Perhaps the 
ladies can suggest why these exceptions were 
made. 

Sam Frost was not only an auctioneer but he 
\\ as an excellent cabinet maker and some of the 
old mahogany wardrobes and bureaus made by 
him are still doing service in Athens. He was 
also Justice of the Peace and his place of business 
was the old house, long known as Garebold's shop, 
which stood on the corner of Hull and Hancock 
Streets. The shop belonged to General Harden 
and it was suspected that the tenant paid his rent 
in verdicts for his landlord, \\nien Flowell C ibb 
was voung at the bar lie liad a case before PVost 
with but little chance of success and with Citn. 
Harden representing the other side. I'.e stipp.xl 



115 



by the shop one day and said, ">Squire, do you 
know what some of your enemies are saying?" 
■'No, what?" said the squire stoppmg to spit on 
his hands. "Well they say that you pay your 
rent to Gen. Harden in verdicts for his clients." 
"Well it is a lie," said Frost. "I know it is" said 
said Mr. Cobb, "but that is what they say." When 
the case came to trial and was decided for Mr. 
Cobb, Gen. Harden, who ought to have gained it 
was utterly dumfounded. But when he heard 
how it happened he enjoyed the joke too much 
to move for a new trial. 

One of the few locals in the Athens Banner in 
October 1835 says. "Our distinguished country- 
man John Howard Payne Esq., the accomplished 
dramatist and poet arrived in this place a few 
days since from the South West." 

Payne was on his way to visit John Ross, the 

chief of the Cherokee Indians, and while there 
dabbled in politics which v\'ere at an acute stage, 
and was suspected of interfering to prevent the 
Cherokees from making a treaty with the United 
States. He was promptly arrested by the Geor- 
gia Guard, and but for the assistance of friends 
would have been imprisoned. 

The story of John Howard Payne's friendship 
for Miss Mary Harden at whose house he was a 
guest while here has been often told and oftener 
exaggerated. There can be no doubt however 



116 



that he did address her if the following extract 
from a letter written by him to Miss Harden and 
preserved by her, is admitted as evidence: "I 
am conscious of my own unworthiness of the 
boon I desire from you, and cannot, dare not, ask 
you to give a decisive answer in my favor now, 
only permit me to hope that at some future time 
1 may have the happiness of believing my af- 
fection returned, but at the same time I conjure 
you to remember in making your decision that it 
is in your power to render me happy or miser- 
able." 

The story that Mv. Payne gave A'liss Mary the 
original of his poem, "Home, Sweet Home," can 
hardly be credited. He doubtless gave her a 
copy in his own hand writing but the poem was 
written nearly fifteen years before his visit to 
Athens and it is not probable that he ever knew 
whether the original was in existence. 

John Howard Payne was an actor, a play- 
wright, an editor, a cosmopolitan, a peripatetic 
man of the world. He was entertaining as a 
companion but did not appeal to General Harden 
as a prospective son-in-law, and if Miss Mary's 
young heart was touched her father soon healed 
the sore. 

The Hardens were elegant people in their day 
and to them was assigned the honor of entertain- 
ing General Lafayette as their guest during his 
visit to Savannah in 1824. General Harden — he 



117 

got his title from the niihtia — was a good lawyer 
but a better boon companion. He brought from 
Savannah all the graces of that cit3''s social life 
and very little money to support the hospitality 
he dispensed. He opened the first law school 
north of Augusta, but it was not pecuniarily suc- 
cessful. General Harden's brother married a 
daughter of Madame Gouvain 

Mrs. Harden in her youth had been a great 
belle and even in old age was beautiful with her 
placid countenance, and cheeks faintly tinged 
with pink. She was one of those old ladies whose 
courtesy is shown alike to high and low, whom 
it is a privilege to know and a pleasure to meet. 

Miss Mary was — well, my first recollections of 
her were during the war when she was reduced 
to great straits and her necessities did not permit 
her to indulge in new dresses and cosmetics. At 
times when she appeared upon the streets she 
looked odd to say the least. But Miss Mary was 
a very strong character and commanded the re- 
spect of everyone. I knew her well and she hon- 
ored me with her confidence. She was highly 
educated, extremely courteous and rather effusive 
in manner, honest and sincere, independent and 
economical, c.r necessitate. I was a pallbearer 
at her own and her mother's funerals and I valued 
the friendship of both those excellent ladies. 

Xo sketch of Athens could afford to ignore the 
Hillyers a family which has been distinguished 
in Georgia for many years. 



118 



Mrs. Catherine Freeman and Mrs. Rebecca 
Hillyer, mother and daughter, both widows came 
from Wilkes County to Athens in 1818 for the 
purpose of educating the sons of Mrs. Hillyer, 
John, Junius and Granby. All three graduated 
at the University and all reached distinction in 
after life. John Hillyer taught school in Athens 
and studied for the ministry. He removed to 
Texas, where, after a career of singular useful- 
ness he died at the age of eighty-nine. 

Shaler Granby Hillyer also taught in Athens, 
having charge of the old Grammar School on 
Prince Avenue, and he, too, studied for the min- 
istry. He was for many years a professor in 
Mercer University, and at the age of ninety 
pleached with great power to a large audience. 

Of Junius Hillyer I speak more particularly 
because he was so much longer a resident of 
Athens. 

Junius Hillyer was fourteen years of age 
when he came to Athens with his mother. He 
entered the Freshman Class in College and was 
known as a diligent student throughout his col- 
lege course. A college boy difficulty with Robert 
Toombs in which Hillyer was not adjudged in 
the wrong resulted in the expulsion of Toombs. 
Studying law in his senior year, Mr. Hillyer was 
admitted to the bar immediately after his gradua- 
tion. He rose rapidly in his profession assuming 
in a short time a leading position in the famous 
Western Circuit. 



119 



At different times he held the positions of So- 
Hcitor General, Judge of the Western Circuit, 
Member of Congress and Solicitor of the United 
States Treasury. He was a Trustee both of 
Mercer and the State University. 

Judge Hillyer was a positive man without be- 
ing dictatorial. The set of his chin and the com- 
pression of his lips told you at once that his mind 
was made up. A stranger would have thought 
him austere, but he was not. He loved compan- 
ionship, he had a keen sense of humor and said 
many quaint things which could come only from 
an original mind like his. He combatted the 
idea of the sanctity of the Church building. 
Said he "the Baptist Church belongs to me and 
Williams Rutherford and Mrs. Hamilton and this 
Congregation who built it to be comfortable, 
when we come together for worship, but it is no 
more sacred than my barn." 

In 1 87 1 Judge Hillyer removed to Decatur, 
Ga. where he lived until his death in 1888 having 
survived his wife eight years. 

An evidence of improvement in Athens was the 
coming of John F. Goneke to devote himself to 
the uplifting of the musical taste of the people. 
Goneke taught music on all the instruments as 
well as voice culture. He organized a band, gave 
concerts and built a "concert hall" opposite the 
Athens Female Academy. This was on the rear 
of the old Frierson lot where he lived. Prior to 



120 

this concerts were held in the Chapel or the 
churches — Fourth of July orations were always 
delivered in the Churches because the Students 
monopolized the Chapel on that day. Mr. 
Goneke kept a music store also and managed to 
have something in his line going on all the tirre 
The band — "the Athens Band" — was composed 
of W. B. Wells, W. P. Sage, John J. Cary and 
George W. Scott with John Goneke for leader 
and the\- furnished the first instrumental music 
for the College Commencement. Before that 
they used to sing odes and hymns. 

After Dr. Waddell left Athens Dr. Nathan 
Hoyt was called to the Presbyterian Cliurch 
which he served as pastor for thirty-six vears. 
During his long pastorate children were born, 
married and died, leaving another generation to 
grow up under his precepts. Dr. Hoyt was a 
sound theologian and a fearless speaker. He 
knew a good horse when he saw him, and would 
have no other kind. His factotum, old Daniel, 
was the sexton of the Church for many years, and 
Daniel never was sure which had the most 
authority, he or the Doctor. 

Dr. Hoyt had many pecularities of manner 
which, however, affected neither his popularity 
nor his preaching. He was easily annoyed by 
noises in the church and would stop in his ser- 
mon until they ceased. Once I remember when 
a child cried during the preaching Dr. Hoyt stop- 



121 



ped and said "I cannot go on while the child is 
crying. If it cannot be quieted it must be taken 
from the house" — which the mother proceeded to 
do at once. When he saw his congregation get- 
ting restless during a sermon he would say "I 
shall soon be done," "I have only a little more to 
say," which at any rate had the effect of quieting 
them for a little while. Two sons of Dr. Hoyt 
•entered the ministry. Dr. Henry Hoyt, now one 
of the fathers of the Athens Presbytery, and Dr. 
Thomas A. Hoyt late of Philadelphia, one of the 
distinguished preachers of America. 

CHAPTER XL 

Until 1 83 1 Watkinsville was the only voting 
precinct in Clarke County. It was an ardent 
part}' man who would ride seven miles to vote 
when there was no ofifice in sight for him. But 
those were ardent party days. It was the time 
of the Troup and Clarke parties, a division among 
Georgians which citizens of other states did not 
share or appreciate. In Athens the Troup party 
was in the majority. It numbered Judge Joseph 
H. Lumpkin, the Hulls, Dr. Church, Col. Cobb, 
Letcher Mitchell, Dr. Moore, E. L. Newton Mr. 
Camak, Dr. Reese, Dr. Tinsley, the Nisbets and 
Col. Billups on its roll, while the Clarke party 
claimed Mr. Thomas, the Phinizys, Wm. L. Mit- 
chell, Junius Hillyer, Gov. Wilson Lumpkin, Gen. 
Harden, Mr. Chase, Blanton M. Hill and Mr. 



122 



Franklin. The Troup men aligned themselves with 
the Whigs and the Clarke men with the Derr;- 
ocrats in National politics. Howell Cobb was a 
Troup man but a Democrat and though Clarke 
Count}' was safely Whig, Howell Cobb always 
ran ahead of his ticket for every office he ever 
sought. Asbury Hull was leader of the Whigs. 

During the intense political excitement between 
the Clarke and Troup parties, which perhaps was 
not surpassed by the antagonism of the Democ- 
rats to the Republicans in the hottest days of re- 
construction, serious complaints were made by 
the Clarke party of the vicious influence of the 
University. It was charged that the Trustees 
were all Troup men and that only Troup men 
were put in the faculty, and worse than all, that 
their bo}s went to college and came home imbued 
with the damnable heresies of the Troup party, 
and forsaking the principles of their fathers, de- 
serted to the ranks of the enemy. 

This was too grave a charge to be ignored. 
Consequently, in 1830, the Legislature enacted a 
law increasing the number of trustees to twenty- 
eight, giving an equal representation on the board 
to the two political factions. 

In that day, far more than now, the young men 
of Georgia were deeply interested in the great 
questions which agitated the country. It was no 
uncommon thing for a party of students to leave 
college to go to Watkinsvllle or Lexington, or 



125 



some other neighboring town to hear Mr. Craw- 
ford or Mr, Berrien, or Mr. Toombs or Mr. 
Stephens speak on the issues before the people, 
and on their return take their punishment as be- 
came men. 

Fired with the enthusiasm of youth, somt, did 
not hestitate to attack the opposite party in their 
college speeches. At the first meeting of the 
Board of Trustees after its increase, a resolution 
was passed requiring the Faculty to exclude from 
the productions of the students at commencement, 
all political matter involving the party politics of 
the day. 

Doubtless it was a proper inhibition and the 
party attacked keenly felt its necessity; but, the 
other side secretly enjoyed the situation none the 
less. Indeed, it was due to this fact that the 
students dared to hand in one speech to the 
Faculty and speak another on the stage, feeling- 
sure of the support of his own side if the worst 
came. 

The Legislature was a stiff lot in those days 
and whether Troup or Clarke men, believed 
firmly in the sovereignty of the State. While 
Geo. R. Gilmer was Governor an Indian was 
found guilty of killing a man in ITall Count}' 
and sentenced to be hung. An appeal was made to 
the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief 
Justice Marshall sent an order to Gov. Gilmer to 
defer the execution until he could be tried before 



124 



the Supreme Court. Governor Gilmer laid the 
order before the Legislature who promptly sent a 
special messenger with an order to the Sheriff 
of Hall County to proceed immediately with the 
execution. They say old Judge Marshall was 
mad when he heard of it. 

The financial panic which swept the country in 
1873 was severely felt in Athens. The atten- 
dance of students in the University fell off, the 
banks stopped specie payment, expenses went up 
and profits went down. Cotton went down to 
five cents, negroes who cost $1200, were sold for 
from $200 to $300, and good land was offered 
at $2 and $3 per acre. 

Great distress ensued and some of our wealth- 
iest men came out of the wreck with nothing but 
their debts. One of these was Col. John A. Cobb 
who had become heavily involved in security 
debts and who surrendered all of a large property 
to his creditors. His negroes brought $90,000 — 
even at panic prices. A gloom settled over the 
whole State and discouragement sat upon every 
face. A public meeting was held in the Presby- 
terian Church at which Dr. Hoyt presided to dis- 
cuss the situation and it was resolved that the 
banks should suspend specie payment. 

Amid this general despondency the intelligence 
was received of the drowning at sea of Major 
Oliver H. Prince and Mrs. Prince, who were on 
their way from the North on the "Home." The 



125 



ship was caught in a storm off Cape Hatteras and 
with few exceptions all on board were lost. One 
of those who escaped was John Bishop an uncle 
of the Hodgsons, who was on his way to Athens 
to take charge of the Botanical Garden. He 
brought the news of the disaster. 

Mr. Prince lived at this time opposite the Up- 
son place and owned almost all the land between 
Hill Street and Frince Avenue and indeed the lat- 
ter street was named for him. He was a man of 
extensive culture and the author of many fugitve 
sketches. "The Militia Drill' in Georgia Scenes 
was written by him. Though his body was never 
buried, his fellow-citizens testified their esteem 
for him in a special memorial meeting in the 
chapel. 

But even hard times and trouble can't 
utterly quench the spirits of young people. For 
while the panic was doing its worst the young 
ladies had a real May party, including queen and 
all. At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of May, 1837 
(think of it, you girls who sleep away the after- 
noons) at 3 o'clock the beauty of Athens gath- 
ered in the grove where the Catholic church 
stands while the Athens band "played with its 
usual animated and finished style and with strik- 
ing effect." 

Miss Elizabeth Church was queen. As she en- 
tered upon the stage Miss America Adams pre- 
ceded her, repeating lines. Miss Mildred Cobb 



126 



crowned the queen, who repHed in a dignified 
strain. Miss Sarah Phinizy presented the scepter. 
Miss Mary Brown, the May pole ; Miss Ann Hull, 
a white rose ; Miss Eugenia Hamilton, a red rose ; 
Misses Jane Hunt and Mary Athena Jackson, 
moss roses, and Miss Mary Goneke a badge. All 
these presentations were accompanied by suitable 
sentiments of loyalty expressed in verse, after 
which an ode was sung, the May pole surrounded 
and refreshments served. 

Not long after that the "assembly room" of 
the hotel was converted into a theatre, where the 
drama of "Matteo Falcone" was enacted with 
songs and dances by Miss Meadows, Mr. and 
Mrs. Hart and Mrs. Brown. And to show how 
foreigners appreciated Athens, M. Le Baron De 
Fleur, pianist to the Emperor of Prussia, came 
all the way to give a concert in the chapel, for 
$1 per ticket. 

Well, there was trouble enough abroad, and 
nobody begrudged these young people their pleas- 
ure. 

In those days, when the people felt that they 
must have something, they put their hands down 
in their pockets and paid for it. When the town 
needed a grammar school the citizens put up the 
money and built one. When the old chapel was 
about to tumble down the friends of the college 
built another. When the need of a female acad- 
emy was felt a subscription was taken up and 
the house was built. 



127 



And when, in 1845, ^ town hall was the one 
thing needed the citizens subscribed and built the 
old town hall in the middle of Washington street, 
whence it was removed a decade ago to serve the 
ignominious purpose of a livery stable until it 
was destroyed by fire. 

The old town hall was a historic spot. It was 
built to provide a market on the ground floor, 
flanked by a calaboose on either side, with iron 
gratings and filth and smells malodorous. Above 
these was the hall. Its walls had resounded to 
the tones of Ben Hill and the Cobbs and Robert 
Toombs and Hope Hull and Alexander Stephens, 
and had re-echoed the drunken shrieks of Jess 
Bridges and Jack Yarborough from the cellar be- 
low. They had vibrated to the music of the elite 
of Athens society and had reflected the cries of 
the runaway negro in the hands of Daniel Clower. 
They had reverberated to the eloquence of Thos. 
R. R. Cobb when appealing for secession, had 
shaken with laughter at the negro minstrel show, 
had responded to the glees of old Kemmerer's 
singing school, had howled with the mob that 
lynched a negro rapist, had smiled with the lights 
and decorations of the Flower Queen, had seen 
the most delightful suppers, smelled to heaven 
with the tobacco-spitting crowd at a public meet- 
ing, revolted at the Radical gathering after the 
war and listened to the commencement eloquence 
of Carlton Hillyer's school. 



128 



Its bell, which now calls the children of the 
city schools to their daily tasks, rang every night 
at 9 o'clock to warn the negro of the curfew 
hour, and clanged the alarm of fire to rouse the 
citizens to their safety. The old Town Hall ! with 
its avenue of China trees leading to the steps, and 
the town well on the side, the rendezvous of the 
incipient ward heeler on election days and the 
muster ground of the Mitchell Thunderbolts ! 
r>ut I am going too fast. 

Some of the strictures on negro slaves seem 
funny, not to say harsh, to the present generation. 
For instance, no negro was allowed to own a dog ; 
and negroes were not allowed to assemble on 
porches or other public places on Sunday; and 
negroes were not allowed on the street after nine 
o'clock at night without a pass ; and it was dis- 
cretionary with the Town Marshal to whip or 
confine all negroes found on the streets after nine 
o'clock, and the owner of slaves confined must 
pay $i.oo to the Marshal or have the slave 
whipped ; and negroes were not allowed in a bar- 
room at any time. These were not harsh laws. 
They were necessary police regulations, and 
were necessary for the good of the negro himself, 
as well as for the good order of the com- 
munity. 

CHAPTER XH. 
John H. Newton was of Revolutionary stock. 
His father was a soldier in the Continental arniv 



129 



and his uncle was that Sergeant John Newton 
who, with Sergeant Jasper, captured the British 
soldiers and freed the American prisoners whom 
they were guarding. A marble font now marks 
the spot, near Savannah, erected by the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution, to commemorate 
that heroic deed. 

John H. Newton came to Athens from Jeffer- 
son county in 1837. He opened a store on Han- 
cock avenue, just across from the Methodist 
church, below Mr. Hancock's hotel, but after- 
wards moved to the hotel corner on College ave- 
nue. Mr. Newton was a shrewd man of business, 
and accumulated a large property. At the close 
of the war he was the largest owner of wild lands 
in Georgia, some of which have since become 
very valuable. Mr. Newton was always open to 
a trade, and was a regular bidder at auctions. He 
once bought a hearse, and he owned a miscella- 
neous collection of articles, which would have put 
the Old Curiosity Shop to shame. Mr. Newton 
was a public-spirited man, always ready to aid in 
an enterprise for the public good. It was in 1841 
that he advertised "a blacksmith shop adjoining 
Well's Livery Stable, under the management of 
William S. Hemphill, an experienced smith." 
Well's Livery Stable was where the Christian 
Church stands now. Mr. Newton was 
one of the largest contributors to the 
Lucy Cobb Institute, and F^-esident of the 



130 

Trustees until his death. He was a power in 
building the Eastern Railroad, and one of its first 
Directors. He was a kindly gentleman, whom 
everybody knew and whom everybody esteemed. 

In May, 1840. the great Harrison freshet oc- 
curred — so called because General Harrison was 
a candidate for the Presidency that year. It 
rained from Monday until Friday. All the bridges 
and mills for miles around were washed away. 
The Athens Factory was nearly demolished, and 
houses near the river bank were carried a mile 
down stream. 

Dr. Waddell, who after his resignation had 
gone to Willington, returned to Athens in failing 
health, was stricken with paralysis and died. He 
was a great man in every sense of the word, and 
was greatly lamented at his death. 

Dr. Moses Waddell was born in Rowan county, 
N. C, in 1770. He attended a neighboring school, 
studying with such diligence that when he was 
but fourteen years of age he was invited to take a 
school at a little distance from his home, with the 
stipulated remuneration of $70 a year and his 
board. In i786 he came to Greene county, Geor- 
gia, with his parents and opened another school. 
He was quite popular with the young people, and 
was invited to all their "parties," at which danc- 
ing was the chief feature of amusement. 

Mr. Waddell became so fond of this pleasure 
that his indulgence in it brought him to the se- 



131 



rious reflection that it was harmful. So great 
was the temptation to him to dance that he finally 
changed his place of abode, going to the house of 
a pious gentleman, where he assiduously spent his 
evenings in the study of the classics. 

Subsequently, in view of preparing himself to 
preach the gospel, he went to Hampden Sidney 
College, entering the senior class in 1791. For 
some years after he was licensed he preached and 
taught at different places, finally locating at Wil- 
lington, S. C. In the meantime he had among his 
pupils William H. Crawford and John C. Cal- 
houn, men who in after life became the peers of 
any this country has ever produced. 

Mr. Waddell was married first to a sister of 
John C. Calhoun, who survived her marriage but 
little more than a year. 

At Willington Dr. Waddell began a work of 
education which made him famous throughout 
the South. The school numbered at its maximum 
attendance 180, comprising boys who afterwards 
became the most distinguished men of South 
Carolina and Georgia. 

When the University of Georgia was lying 
prostrate under the misfortune of President Fin- 
ley's death, superadded to the distressing condi- 
tion in which he found it, it was felt that Dr. 
Waddell was the only man who could undertake 
its resuscitation with any hope of success. The 
Trustees sent him an urgent invitation to assume 



132 



the presidency. Though very reluctant to face 
the responsibihty of such a task, he yielded to t'".e 
arguments of the committee who visited him, and 
removed to Athens in 1819. 

The reputation of Dr. Waddell which had pre- 
ceded him, added to his energy and high charac- 
ter, soon raised the enrollment of students from 
seven to more than one hundred. 

His discipline was firm without severity, and 
those who trifled with him felt how severe he 
could be. No student ever tried it twice, and one. 
h.aving come out from such an interview with 
him, said to a companion : "When you hear a boy 
bragging how he bullied Dr. Waddell, you may 
know he is lying, for it can't be done." 

But with all his firmness Dr. Waddell had the 
tact to know when not to punish. One night he 
caught, as he believed, Ned B — playing cards. 
The next morning, overtaking him on the campus, 
the doctor said : "Edward, I think I saw you 
playing cards last night." "I reckon not, sir," 
said the culprit. "Yes, I am sure it was you," 
replied the doctor. "It couldn't have been me," 
answered Ned, "because I don't know the ace of 
jacks from the nine of deuces." Dr. Waddell 
smiled, but did not press the matter any fur- 
ther. 

Under the laws of that day students were sub- 
ject to militia duty. They organized a company 
among themselves and made a great frolic of the 



135 



whole affair. The name given the company was 
the "Frankhn Blues." Henry C. Lea, who after 
his graduation married Miss Serena Rootes, was 
the first Captain. They turned out regularly, 
armed and equipped for drill and target shooting. 
On Fourth of July occasions they were in great 
demand, and always finished up at a banquet. The 
uniform was blue, with brass buttons, white trou- 
sers and high cap. 

"Muster day" was held at Watkinsville, and 
was a great frolic. It proved so disastrous to 
study and good order that the Governor was ap- 
pealed to to withdraw the arms which had been 
furnished the students. When an election was held 
for officers in this militia district a livery stable 
keeper named Pack Wells was a candidate for 
Major, and as many of the students owed him 
bills which he had been very forbearing in press- 
ing, they all voted for him and elected him. 

CHAPTER Xni. 

With the reaction from the depression of the 
panic of 1837 came an increase in the business of 
the town and additions to its population. This 
was due in part to the completion, in 1841, of the 
Georgia Railroad to Athens, an event which had 
been long and anxiously expected. 

When the Georgia Railroad reached the limits 
of the town on Carr's Hill it was thought in due 
time it would cross the river, a consummation long 



134 



wished for but not realized till forty years later. 
There no doubt lingers in the memory of many 
a traveller the horrors of the long ride between 
the depot and the hotel, as he was pitched about 
in Saulter's old omnibus, splashed with mud or 
suffocated with dust, according to the season of 
the 3'ear. The lost time, the broken vehicles, the 
personal discomfort and the work on the road 
aggregated during those forty years at a low 
valuation would have graded and equipped the 
railroad extension over again. The first train 
over the road was pulled by mules, and Mrs. Eliz- 
abeth Hodgson, Miss Ann and her brothers were 
passengers then, making their first visit to Ath- 
ens. The track was of flat bar iron, laid on 
stringers, which in turn were laid on the cross- 
ties. Sometimes the flat rails would work loose 
and curl up. If the car wheel ran under it, as it 
sometimes did, the "snake head" would pierce the 
floor of the car and the passenger was lucky 
whose seat happened to be in some other place. 

When the Georgia Railroad began to run reg- 
ular trains a heavy fall of rain washed away an 
embankment near Union Point, and the train went 
into the washout, killing two men. In conse- 
quence of this the Directors very properly deter- 
mined to abandon running trains after dark. 

There is a delightful simplicity about this. Why 
should trains be run at night anyhow, when peo- 
ple ought to be at home with their families or 



135 

asleep in bed? Even day trains make far better 
time than wagon teams, and teamsters used to be 
satisfied with them. A stage hne to a summer 
resort makes seventeen miles in six hours, and 
its patrons do not complain, but let them get on a 
railroad, and if they don't go that same distance 
in half an hour their rights are invaded, their 
dignity is upset, their digestion is impaired and 
their religion is seriously threatened! 

In anticipation of the coming of the railroad a 
Mr. Evans purchased the land between Hill street 
and Prince avenue, built the hou<?e occupied by 
Mrs. Shepperson for his residence, and the old 
Stovall house for a hotel. All the angle between 
the two streets was forest, and the owner de- 
signed making it a park. Unfortunately financial 
troubles brought his lands to sale, and his plans 
never materialized. Henry Hull, Jr., bought the 
residence and Pleasant A. Stovall the hotel. 

The time seemed propitious for selling the va- 
cant lots on the south side of Broad street — or 
Front street, as it was then called. In 1843 Dr. 
Henry Hull was directed by the Trustees to sur- 
vey these lots, which were laid ofif 42 by 120 feet, 
except the corner lots, and these were 34 by 120 
feet. 

Lot A, Bishop's corner, was sold to Thomas 
Andrews for $1,000. 

Lot B, next on the east, was sold to John H. 
Xewton for $876. 



136 

Lot C, for $801.25; D, for $700, to W. W. 
Clayton. W. M. Morton and John H. Newton. 

Lot E, Webb & Crawford's corner, was sold to 
C). P. Shaw for $999. 

Lot F, across the street, was sold to Asbury 
Hull for $700. 

Lot G was sold to Morton & Bradford for $500. 

Lots H, I and K were sold to W. Letcher 
A/Iitchell for $1,403. These were the old hotel 
lots extending to the corner of Thomas street. 

In October, 1844, the following lots were sold, 
the numbers being those of Thomas' survey : 
No. yi. To Young L. G. Harris, ... $ 74 40 

No. yi. To Wm. A. Carr I53 09 

No. 74 to jy. To Meredith Yarbor- 

ough 519 14 

No. 78. To Wm. A. Carr, 35 60 

No. 79. To P. Churchill i43 55 

No. 80. To Chas. M. Reese, 78 16 

No. 81. To Wm. L. Mitchell 25 25 

No. 82 and 83. To Jos. E. Maxwell. 201 00 

No. 84. To Andrew Baxter, 233 96 

No. 85 and 86, To Hugh O'K. Nes- 

bitt 257 46 

No. 87. To James J. Taylor 268 76 

No. 88 to 89, To Robt. Taylor 922 84 

No. 92 and 93, To John Billups... 355 70 
No. 94 to 96, To Asbury and Hen- 
ry Hull 200 00 

No. 97, To Robert Taylor 9 00 



137 



No. 98. To Y. L. G. Harris, 50 00 

No. 99, To Wm. Lehmann, 20 00 

No. 100, To Y. L. G. Harris, i 00 

No. loi to 104. To A. Conger, 450 00 

No. 105 to 106, To A. Hull and Thos. 

Wray, 1000 00 

No. 107, To Edward Coppee, 350 00 

No. 108 and 109, To D. J. Lyle,. . . . 300 00 

No. no, To Jno. H. Newton, 166 00 

To Thos. Sansom, 600 00 

To Wm. Yoakum, 800 00 

To Thos. Bishop, 1200 00 

With the increased facilitiej? for getting to 
Athens, citizens of other towns moved here, at- 
tracted by the cultured society of the place, the 
climate and the advantages of education. In the 
decade following 1840 many new houses were 
built. The Franklin House was built by Major 
Mitchell and the stores up to Bishop's corner. 
Across the street Mr. Wm. Bearing built the 
Central Hotel. 

The Hotel which is being demolished as I write 
was all upstairs, the first floor being devoted to 
stores and the access was by outside stairs on 
Wall street. Thev were last in use when John 
H. Christy published the Southern Watchman in 
the hotel parlor. Mr. Elizur L. Newton after- 
wards built a much more pretentious and com- 
modious hotel and called it the Newton House. 
Tn fact it was such a convenient hotel in every re- 



138 



spect that all its rivals have gone down in defeat 
and no one had the temerity to build another 
to this day. Alajor Walker built Dr. Speer's 
house which was owned successively by Col. 
Hamilton and Mr. John H. Xewton. Dr. Ger 
dine's house was built by S. J. ]\Iayes an old mer- 
chaht who lived and died there. Mr. Stern's 
house was built by Dr. Coppee, a cultured gentle- 
man from Savannah whose daughter married 
Bishop Stevens of Philadelphia and whose son 
Henry became the distinguished President of 
Lehigh University. 

The new Episcopal Church and the brick 
Methodist Church were completed. The Presby- 
terian manse was erected by Albon Chase, and the 
old Holbrook corner store and dwelling followed. 
How many persons I wonder remember Bill Hol- 
brook, that cheerful idiot who lived to be fifty 
years old. forty-five of which he spent looking 
over the fence occasionally venturing on the 
street in a long white, but soiled cotton dress? 

Nathan Holbrook died when a young man. He 
was a member of the Athens Guards and was 
buried with military honors. Old Mr. Holbrook 
left the bulk of his estate to the Presbyterian 
Church and some trouble along wnth it. It is evi- 
dent that the divine economy didn't contemplate 
legacies being left to churches for investment 
But this is wandering far from the improvements 
in real estate of which T was telling. 



139 



Watkins Baynon's, Mrs. Gokling's, General 
Harden's, Mrs. Reese's, ]Mr. Thomas' and Mr. 
Blanton Hill's houses followed in quick succes- 
sion. Then Mr. Carlton built him a house where 
Mrs. Mandeville lived, and Ross Crane another 
where Mrs. Marks lives, both substantial brick 
houses, which today testify to the excellent work 
they did. Mr. Towns put up the house where his 
daughter, Mrs. J. C. Orr, lived and which Tow- 
nie now owns. Mr. T. R. R. Cobb renovated the 
old Jesse Robinson place, Judge Lumpkin built 
the Home School, Dr. Charles M. Reese the 
Fleming house and Mr. James Camak the hand- 
some old house on the hill. Just opposite was 
Mrs. James D. Stevens', an old frame building, 
which she replaced with a handsome brick resi- 
dence on the site of the Court House. This was 
burned in 1859, soon after it was completed. 

The elegant old brick mansion back of the 
Episcopal Church was built by Gen. Howell Cobb, 
and it is betraying no confidence to say that 
Judge Cobb was born there in 1842. 

It was sold to Mrs. Peninah Thomas who 
lived there many years and made it one of the 
most beautiful homes in the town. Mrs. Du- 
Bose's house was built by Gen. Robert Taylor and 
his son James lived just opposite. This house is 
often pointed out as the home of Henry Grad\' 
but as a matter of fact his family had lived there 
a little more than a vear when Henrv left Athens. 



140 



Col. John Billups made his home where Mrs. 
Crane now hves, but the old house was burned, 
and just beyond, Mr. Franklin had a beautiful 
chateau built of cedar and adorned within and 
without with all that wealth and taste could sup- 
ply. 

Passing on we come to Mr. Upson's place, 
built by Dr. Franklin who was accidently killed 
in the machinery of a mine near Dahlonega be- 
fore he ever occupied the house. Old Mrs. Long 
bought the place and it eventually fell to Giles 
Mitchell her son in law who lived there until his 
death. Across the street was the preparatory 
department of the University, first conducted as 
a Manual Labor School by Moses W. Dobbins, 
then as a Grammar School by Shaler G. Hillyer. 
but now fallen into a state of desuetude. It was 
said that Mr. Dobbins could come nearer wrap- 
ping a hickory around a boy's legs than any man 
of his day. 

During this period, too, was built the old stone 
house of Governor Wilson Lumpkin and the Brit- 
tain place across the road, which had been the 
home of Mrs. Rebecca Hillyer, was bought and 
repaired by Prof. Williams Rutherford. The old 
Bancroft house, a little bandbox of a place on the 
hill above the Tanyard branch, was built by Prof. 
Lehmann, and Mr. Thomas Wray, a wealthy 
planter, erected the Nicholson house, where Phil. 
Fanny and Watt lived from boyhood to mature 
vears. 



141 

These are only some of the houses wliich were 
built from 1840 to 1850, and show the influx of 
new people who recognized the advantages which 
Athens offered as a home. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The rise in cotton not only gave a stimulus to 
real estate, but to the matrimonial market as 
well. 

The following description of a wedding was 
found in an old letter written by Mr. Cobb in 
October, 1842 : 

"Yesterday afternoon about 5 o'cfock Bob 
Thomas came post haste to tell me that there was 
a lady at his mother's who was anxious to see 
me immediately. On repairing thither Miss Anna 
made her appearance. It seems she had just re- 
ceived an invitation to be bridesmaids to Miss 
Brockman for herself and Sarah Phinizy through 
her negro girl Sally. They were doubtful who 
were to wait with them, when Sally informed 
them they were to select their own partners. Mr. 
Cobb was requested to attend with Ann. And 
-Mr. Cobb did. And such a wedding I ao not sup- 
pose was ever had before. The bridesmaids had 
never seen the bride, and the attendants previous- 
1> chosen were informed that there was "no 
further use for their services. About half 
the company was from Athens, the remain- 
der pure specimens of the Democracy. The 



142 



country beaux backed out ; the town beaux would 
not become ac([uainted with the country girls, so 
Mr. Cobb had to entertain part of the company, 
while the remainder entertained themselves 
watching- him. -\t the table I solicited the bride 
to take something more. She thanked me, but 
she was 'perfectly full.' The bridegroom was 
pressed to eat, but said he had 'eat powerful," '" 

And what of some of the people who were the 
bulwarks of the town in this progressive period " 
One unique figure appears toiling up Trom the 
tanyard branch, short-legged and almost dwarf- 
ish, dressed out in black coat, high black stock 
and high silk hat. His hair is cropped short an 1 
his face as red as a beet. But his blue eye has a 
twinkle in it and a smile and an Irish brogue 
breaks forth at \our greeting. This is John 
Kirkpatrick — "Squire Kirk,"" as everybody called 
him — a tanner, with evidences of his trade cling- 
ing to him, a jolly Iri.shman, honest as the day ; a 
Presbyterian elder, who prayed both with unction 
and with brogue ; a Justice of the Peace, who 
was proud of the office ; a man Avho greeted you 
with a countenance that beamed on you with the 
placidity of the moon and the color of the setting 
sun. 

Another Presbyterian elder, though u ver\' dif- 
ferent one, was "William L. Mitchell, who was 
sometimes irreverently called "Slickhead," from 
the way he brushed his hair, to distinguish him 



143 



from a cousin of the same name. Mr. Mitchell 
might be called intense. He was positive in every 
phase of his character — a warm friend, a bitter 
enemy, a hard fighter, a devoted partisan. He 
hated the Yankees and despised every cnurch but 
the Presbyterian. He was naturally dogmatic and 
pitied those who could not agree with him. His 
originality was most delightful and made him to 
the writer a most attractive companion. He de- 
clared in Sunday school once that the Episcopa- 
lians interpreted the command "Drink ye all of 
it" at the Lord's Supper to mean to drink all of 
the wine, and that sometimes they consecrated a 
good deal, expecting a large congregation, but if 
only a few came the minister and the vestrymen 
had to drink it all up, ''and sometimes," said he, 
"they get drunk." 

The Colonel said that Paul's thorn in the flesh 
was his wife, and he came to this conclusion after 
mature deliberation. He also gave Abraham 
the rank of Brigadier General, and said Esau's 
authority was exactly that of a Major of Geor- 
gia militia. 

Colonel Mitchell was a lawyer by profession, 
and acquired a modest competency at the bar. He 
was an active Trustee of the University, and at 
the same time Secretary and Treasurer and Pro- 
fessor of Law. For years he was a sufferer from 
asthma, and he appeared more of an invalid than 
one would suppose from the energy he displayed. 



144 



Mr Mitchell married, first a daughter of Dr. 
Neisler. and his second wife was Miss Bass, who 
had been a teacher and was a very intelHgent 
woman. 

Still another Presbyterian elder was Elizur L. 
Newton, one of the oldest residents of Athens. 
He went to school here as a little boy, and died 
here an old man. He was a prosperous merchant, 
but prospering rather by close economy and small 
profits than by venturesome speculation. He said 
he was never tempted to spend five cents just be- 
cause he had it, and he never did spend it except 
for something he needed. If a man owed him he 
never left off until he collected the debt. It might 
be years, but he never relaxed his efiforts. But 
while Mr. Newton wanted all that was due him, 
and though he was a close trader, he was a liberal 
giver, and the Presbyterian church had no more 
staunch supporter than he. Mr. Newton was of 
large and unwieldy stature, and in his latter years 
grew very round-shouldered. With long gray 
hair, a large, loose, brown overcoat, large slouch 
hat and stout cane, his figure advancing with slow 
and measured step, was impressive from its very 
massiveness. Mr. Newton built and owned the 
Newton House, now the Commercial Hotel, and 
his residence adjoining it, now torn down, was a 
handsome house in its day. 

Mr. Mitchell and Mr. I^ewton could never 
agree, and the fates seemed to keep them at odds. 



145 



AJr. Mitchell said AJr. Xewton was dull and 
couldn't untlerstand : Mr. Xewton said Mr. 
Mitchell was obstinate and wouldn't understand. 
i'.ut there was no better man than Elizur Newton, 
and when he died in his comfortable home on 
IJaxter street many another man could have been 
better spared. 

Dr. Edward R. Ware came to Athens in 1829. 
He was a i^hysician, enjoying" a successful prac- 
tice in partnership with Dr. Henry Hull, they hav- 
ing married sisters. After accumulating a suffi- 
cient property he retired from the practice of 
medicine and lived a life of quiet ease, taking care 
of his own and eschewing all interference with 
other folks. Like his former partner, his daily 
routine was to go ''down town," sit an hour or 
two in the Insurance Office, make the rounds of 
the stores and go home to dinner. Quiet almost 
to timidity. Dr. Ware rarely conversed. He lis- 
tened. But he was esteemed for his sound judg- 
ment, his sincerity and his integrity of character. 
His counterpart was Mrs. Ware. Full of life, 
loving the company of old and young, rich and 
poor, hospitable to lavishness, never too sick to 
go to a "party," and never too tired to give one, 
she was universally popular and retained till her 
last illness that youthful vivacity and unfeigned 
cordiality which, added to the other attractions 
of her elegant home, made it one of the centers 
of the social life of Athens. 



146 



William M. Morton was a citizen who was al- 
ways to be reckoned with when a proposition of 
a public nature came up. Mr. Morton was a mer- 
chant, and was the first fire insurance agent in the 
town. He kept hotels, farmed and traded in 
everything that would sell. He had many ups 
and downs and experienced all the smiles and 
frowns of a fickle fortune. At one time he had 
a multifarious business and plenty of money; at 
another he had nothing but creditors. But his 
energy never relaxed, and he would get oh his 
feet again and take his share in every public en- 
terprise. Mr. Morton was once Mayor of the 
town and was at the same time a member of the 
Methodist Church. It was reported that when on 
a visit to New York he went to the theater, and 
Brother Billy Parks "had him up"" about it. Mr. 
Morton said in extenuation that he went to the 
theater as the Mayor of Athens. "And when the 
devil calls for the Mayor, where will Brother 
Alorton be?" said the inicompromising pastor. 

CHAPTER XV. 

In 1844 there were two places where the small 
boy was tempted to spend his half-dime — "A. 
Brydie. Confectioner and Proprietor of the Tem- 
perance Cofifee House and Bath House," where 
McDowell's building is now, and "Wm. A. Tal- 
madge, Confectioner.'" Ice cream was to be had 
at the latter place, but with ice "at five cents a 



147 



pound to clubs of twenty" it must have been an 
expensive luxury. In later years Hansel, a free 
negro, kept a cake shop behind Huggins' old store 
on Jackson street, and inaugurated the delivery 
system with a small cart and pony. There linger 
still toothsome recollections of his ginger cakes, 
so slick on top, and tea cakes sprinkled over witn 
sugar. Hansel was stabbed in 1855 ^Y ^ negro 
belonging to Mrs. Golding and instantly killed 
He was killed in his home, a little house on the 
corner where Michael's store stands, and where 
Mr. S. J. Mays lived until he built the Gerdine 
house. Hansel had bought his wife, Hopey, from 
Mr. Asbury Hull, and after his death for a long 
time she continued to tempt the palate with her 
cakes and confections. 

As to ice, for many years an old ice house stood 
where Billups Phinizy's warehouse is, and when 
the pond was frozen over the citizens interested 
sent their wagons and hauled in enough ice to fill 
it. That supply, however, was very precarious, 
since the pond was frozen over once in about five 
years. 

But who cared for ice with such wells and 
springs bubbling up on every side with purest 
water fresh from mountain reservoirs, cold and 
clear, when no suspicion of bacteria invaded the 
mind, and boiled water was unkonwn except in 
connection with soapsuds ? 

The streets in Athens were without official 



148 



names for many years. Indeed, in so small a 
town there seemed to be little use for them. 
Every inhabitant knew where to find everybody 
else, and as for strangers — why, it was easy lor 
them to ask directions. Broad street was known 
both as Front and Public street. Mr. John H. 
Xewton advertised that he would open a store 
"next door to Air. Hancock's." The Banner 
published that its "office was moved to the new 
wood building a few yards west of the Postoffice, 
on the principal thoroughfare through the town." 
But afterwards it was more specific when it an- 
nounced that "the office of the Southern Banner 
will be found in the two-story wooden building 
on the corner of Front street and College avenue, 
opposite the College campus on one side and 
Newton's brick range on the other." 

An example of the inexactness of locations and 
metes and bounds at that time is found in a mort- 
gage executed by B. Herring to ''a lot between 
Mrs. De Trobiand's and W. L. Mitchell, about 
thirty-nine steps in front, thirty-one steps on the 
back line, and about forty-four steps in length, 
fronting the street." Could anybody locate that 
lot from such a description ? 

A systematic scheme for naming the streets 
was not adopted until 1857, and then at the in- 
stance of Captain Frank Hill, who was a member 
of the Town Council. 

Two brothers, T. Addison Richards an(' Wil- 



I4y 



Ham C. Richards, were great additions to the 
growing town in the forties. Addison Richards 
was an artist of no mean skill, his brother a poet 
and musician, and both men of mure than ordi- 
nary literary culture. Mrs. William C. Richards 
was Principal of a flourishing girls' school, called 
the Athens High School. At the time I refer to 
she taught in the Demaris Baldwin house, still 
standing on Jackson street, between Hancock and 
Dougherty, and once ownc i by the writer. 

A May party was given by this school in 1843, 
which for many years was spoken of as a gem of 
its kind. It was designed by Mr. Richards, and 
the recitations in verse were written by him for 
the occasion. The throne was on the front porch, 
which was massed with flowers and vines. The 
audience sat in the front yard. The Queen was 
Minerva Winstead ; Sarah liaxter, the bearer of 
the crown, and Ann Waddell, the herald; Eliza- 
bath Winstead and Blandina r>axter were maids 
I'f honor, and Claudia Clayton b)rc 'lie scepter. 
Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter were rep- 
resented by Jane Hillups, Batavia Thomas, Sue 
Lampkin and Ella Hill. Jane Reese and Eliza- 
beth Ware bore garlands, while Ellen Richards 
personated Flora, and Sarah Baxter, who 
crowned the Queen, was Hope. It w^as a bevy of 
belles, and the play was as beautiful as the day was 
fair. After the programme was completed ele- 
gant refreshments were served to the audience. 



150 



and still later the entire company adjourned at six 
o'clock to attend another May party given by 
Miss Lord's school, the Athens Academy, en the 
Scudder lot. 

As an evidence of the progress of x\thens we 
note that soon after these May parties, and pos- 
sibly suggested by them, Prof. Whale opened a 
"dancing academy" over Huggins' store. Who 
that ever saw that old store could conceive of a 
dancing school in the second story ? And in addi- 
tion to that, Monsieur G. L. Jules D'Autel opened 
a French boarding-house, with a French cook and 
French dishes where the boarders might learn 
the French language gratis. And on top of all 
came a menagerie traveling through the country 
as they were wont to do, exhibiting a taper, a 
hippopotamus — the first ever in America — an 
ocelot from the Amazon river, a vulture king, a 
ghetah and many strange animals which have 
since become extinct. 

John Bishop who escaped in the wreck of the 
Home, was a skilled gardener and came to Ath- 
ens to superintend the botanical garden. This 
garden was attached to the chair of natural his- 
tory in the college of which Dr. Malthus Ward 
was professor. Dr. Ward had none of the 
elements of manly beauty. His features were 
not harmonious, his figure was ungainly and his 
costume composed of parts belonging to different 
asres. Rut he was a g-entleman of education and 



151 

an enthusiastic botanist, and a gentler, kindlier 
man never lived. In a recitation in botany, the 
professor asked a student hovv^ many species of 
a certain plant there were. The young man re- 
plied at a venture, "Three, sir." "Yes,, yes," 
said the doctor, "but there were formerly only 
two, and the same now is." The quaintness of 
his expressions seemed to impress his lectures 
on the students. He once said, "Words, young 
gentlemen, are only pegs on which to hang our 
ideas." This struck the boys' fancy and ever 
afterwards the old professor was know as "Dr. 
Pegs." 

After his connection with the college ceased. 
Dr. Ward lived for many years and until his 
death, at his home on the hill beyond the branch, 
amid the flowers and fruits and many varieties 
of ornamental trees he had planted years before. 

The botanical garden was located across 
Board Street from Dr. Ward's home and in- 
cluded the square between Finley and Pope 
Streets. It was beautifully laid off and planted 
with many kinds of trees and shrubs and flowers. 
Here grew a willow grown from a cutting 
brought from the tomb of Napoleon at St. Hel- 
ena ; here were plants from the Cape of Good 
Hope, and trees from England, and it was de- 
signed to have a garden where students of bota- 
ny might come from all parts of the South and 
study the specimens from life. 



152 



Many an hour in that dehg-htful resort of 
former clays have students and townsmen whiled 
away, enjoying the dolcc far nicntc under the 
willows or stretched beside the little lake, or 
strolling along the shaded walks. That charm- 
ing retreat, hallowed by many a whispered con- 
fession and brightened by many a blushing ad- 
mission, fragrant with flowers, tinted with the 
sunset's gold, and musical with the thrush and 
mocking bird, is now, alas ! the washing-ground 
of the loud-mouthed colored laundress ; and a 
few old cedars, a broken hedge of osage orange, 
a poplar, and mayhap, a willow, are the sole 
relics of its ancient beauty. 

A unique figure, familiar in the fifties, was 
John Jacobus Flournoy. Of good birth and with 
a liberal education, improved by travel abroad, 
his associations were among the best people, 
but with the loss of hearing came proverty and 
afiliction, and unbalanced in mind he drifted 
away to the lowest stratum of society. Although 
totally deaf, he readily understood a speaker by 
the movements of his lips, and could converse 
fairly well. He was an inveterate contributor 
to the newspapers, and w'hole columns of exhor- 
tations to morality and complaints of the degen- 
eracy of the times were published, until at last 
the editors refused to receive them. Then he 
paid for their insertion, and when no longer able 
to do that addressed his manuscripts to indivi- 



153 



duals. He was opposed to slavery and advocated 
the expulsion of the negro from the country. In 
the division of his father's estate he refused to 
take either negroes or money derived from their 
sale and ordered the executor to send his share 
of the negroes to Africa. 

He was a believer in polygamy and had several 
wives— not all at the same time, however. He and 
they did not agree, if his publications are taken 
as testimony. The following advertisement ap- 
peared in 1856: 

NOTICE. 
The public will be reassured to observe that 
I will pay nothing not cognizable by me as a debt. 
My wife alternately leaves me and returns, and 
is now reabsconded, uncertain whether or not 
to come home any more. My offence is inability 
to support her in the extravagance she wants. 
I can scarcely call a dollar my own. The genius 
of woman is the talent of Satan. She it is that 
must be overmastered. 

J. J. Flournoy. 

In 1858 another wife died, aged 16. Then 
he published a dissertation on trigamy, entitled, 
"Go to the Bible." The next year he married 
the third or fourth wife who, as he complained 
through the prints, soon after left him "to follow 
her own devious way." She died in 1863, aged 
18. Mr. Flournoy was a striking figure in his 
latter days when he appeared on the streets with 



154 



uncut hair and beard, both white and very bushy, 
riding upon a small donkey, and clad, though 
summer it was, in an India rubber overcoat. He 
died in great proverty in Jackson County after 
the war. 

In 1844 a ruddy youth, fresh from the Em- 
erald Isle, came to Athens, and obtained employ- 
ment in the drug store of A. Alexander & Co., 
on College Avenue. Not long afterward, on the 
occasion of a temperance rally, he was invited to 
make an address. His speech, delivered with all 
the fervor of an Irish orator, brought him into 
prominence and social recognition. Judge Jos- 
eph H. Lumpkin was attracted to him, and ad- 
vised him to fit himself for the bar, offering, if 
he could make his own board, to give him in- 
struction and lend him the books necessary for 
the study of the law. He readily accepted the 
offer, and was in due time admitted to the bar. 
This was O. A. Lochrane, in after years Justice 
of the Supreme Court of Georgia. He formed 
a partnership with Thos. U. Camak, and soon 
after married a daughter of Henry G. Lamar. 
Mr. Lamar then lived in Mr. Upson's house on 
Prince Avenue where the marriage took place. 
Afterwards they all moved to Macon. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Some of my readers will remember a little old 
ladv, dressed in drab, with a poke bonnet, and 
ear trumpet, very deaf, and very active in the 



155 



years before the war. This was Madame Gou- 
vain. The following autobiographical sketch 
given me by her granddaughter, Mrs. S. C. 
Reese, will introduce her: "The long literary 
of my name is Rosalie Renie Marie Claudine 
Josephine Yvron \^incent Dennis, de Kedei;on, 
de Trobriand, daughter of Chevelier de Tro- 
briand. I was born 7th of May, 1777, in Tre- 
guier, Brittany. Transported by the events of 
the Revolution, with my parents, and put under 
the surveillance of the Republicans at Mont- 
martre, near Paris, I married General Ange de 
la Perriere in 1793. - I have two sons — one dead. 
^Nly present living son is Col. Ange Adrian de la 
Perriere. I married a second time, M. Gouvain, 
a most amiable gentleman, but not of nobility, 
but highly respectable and intelligent, in 1799. 
I have two beautiful children, William and Marie 
Antoinette. I first came to America on a visit, 
by invitation, to Governor Monroe, of Richmond, 
Va., 1802. From there we go to West Indies, 
and stay three years, where was born my daugh- 
ter at Martinique, the birthplace of Josephine, 
which incident greatly attached my daughter to 
the Empress. From there I go to Philadelphia, 
and very soon embark for France, to remain 
awhile, and bring back my two sons, who I left 
in France, the eldest at the School of Nobility, 
the younger with my sister, Countesse de Villars. 
In the meantime my husband came to Athens, in 



156 

advance of me, to take possession of my great 
estates, which consisted principally of lands, I 
having given in exchange for the Count D'Es- 
taing claims my plantation and negroes at West 
Indies. I enjoy the society of my family awhile^ 
then go to my country seat, near Malmaison, 
where was the Empress in deep despair. I often 
spent hours with her, and permit my little child 
to go with her, as she was pleased to see her. 
Through her influence. Napoleon admitted my 
son to the school. On the night of the illumina- 
tion of Paris, the event of Napoleon's marriage to 
Marie Louise, I bid adieu to niy native land, with 
my interesting children, to join M. Gouvain in 
Georgia, and I came to Athens in September, 
i8iO. Exiled from my connections, a perfect 
stranger to the manners of this new country, I 
soon experienced a change of fortune. A grand 
alarm was given, and for fear of an attack, all 
the women and children went in the College to 
be protected against the Indians. My son Will- 
iam, of thirteen years, would show his bravery 
and stood guard all day and night, took a violent 
cold, and died from the effects. Deprived by the 
Indians was I at that time of my eldest son, Ange 
de la Perriere, then sixteen years of age, whose 
valor engaged as a simple volunteer, in order, he 
said, to prove himself a true American, and, if 
he die, to create some friendly protection to his 
dear mother. He was wounded, but was much 



157 



admired for his bravery. A second time he eii- 
roUed in the Seminole war, and at nineteen was 
promoted by Gen. Andrew Jackson to the title of 
Lieutenant Colonel. My daughter married, in 
1819, Dr. R. R. Harden, who had settled on his 
planation, near Athens. I divided the wreck of 
my once grand fortune with my children, and 
was content to live in retirement and tranquillity, 
but alas, the fire, with all its fury, destroyed the 
remnant of my poor fortune." 

The D'Estaing claim was a track of land in 
Clarke and Madison Counties, beyond the Hull 
place on Trail Creek. 

The tract had been .granted to Count D'Estaing 
in consideration of his services to the State of 
Georgia at Savannah during the Revolution. 
The Count probably never saw it, but his descrip- 
tion of it induced Madame Gouvain to exchange 
for it a valuable plantation in the West Indies 
and she came here to occupy it. 

M. Gouvain, who had been private secretary to 
President Monroe, had preceded Madame and 
built a "chateau" on the present site of the Geor- 
gia Railroad depot. It was later known as the 
"Wilkerson place" and was removed to make 
room for the depot. The frame rebuilt in a 
little house opposite the Cotton Compress bears 
no resemblance to the low roofed chateau. 

Madame Gouvain was a charming old lady, 
with all the graces of the French court. And 



158 



how could she be otherwise. Her first husband, 
Aiige De la Perriere was a general in the French 
army. Her sister, the Countess De Vue De Vil- 
lars, was maid of honor to the Empress Jose- 
phine at Malmaison after Napoleon had divorced 
her. Madame Gouvain was her neighbor and 
friend. She was the aunt of General Bolivar, the 
South American patriot, for whom Bolivia was 
named, and she had been much in the society of 
the most distinguished people of her day and gen- 
eration. 

Madame Gouvain was small in stature, active 
and vivacious. She was often at my father's 
house where she was always a welcome guest 
and the whole family esteemed her highly. 

In 1830 she returned to France, recovered a 
remnant of her property there and came back 
to end her days among her grand-children in 
A-thens. Dr. Lovick Pierce received her into the 
Methodist Church, and forty years afterward 
preached her funeral sermon. 

<Jne of the Rectors of the Episcopal Church 
was the Rev. Mr. Linebaugh. He was a man of 
fair ability and eminent for social qualities. A 
charming companion, a regular boii vivant, he 
loved a hunting party more than the prayer ser- 
vice, and preferred a good story to theology. He 
was a good cook, and frequently invited his 
friends to taste his dishes, and "Linebaugh cof- 
fee" created an active demand for the "Linebaugh 



159 

coffee pot." Mr. Linebaugh became too fond of 
the inebriating cup for his own good, a habit 
contracted — so Mr. Mitchell said — from his in- 
terpretation of the command "Drink ye all of it." 
Mr. Linebaugh, so it was said, consecrated more 
wine than was needed for the communion service, 
and in obedience to that command drank all that 
Avas left. At any rate he became an inebriate and a 
bankrupt, and retired to the plantation of a re- 
lative in Alabama, where he passed the remnant 
of his days under the strictest surveillance, lest 
he should smuggle a bottle of contraband liquor. 

Perhaps the best known man of his day was 
Capt. W. H. Dorsey. As Marshal of the town, 
Clerk of the Council, tax collector, auctioneer, 
commission agent, conductor of the omnibus line, 
he had a pleasant word or a quick repartee for 
everyone. He was everybody's friend, and the 
widow and the orphan, not to speak of other 
folks, called him for all sorts of services, which 
he cheerfully performed. I well remember how, 
during the war. Captain Dorsey used to come 
over from the depot on the omnibus, calling out 
the news as he passed up the street, with all the 
embellishments that voice and gesture could give. 

Capt. Dorsey was portly in figure and impres- 
sive in manner and a large family connection in 
Athens trace their descent from him. 

A familiar figure on the streets was old Billy 
Nabers. He came to Athens when a boy, settling 



160 

on a farm about six miles from town, and a more 
amiable man never lived. He accumulated some 
property and was a good citizen, but he became 
far too fond of liquor, and never came to town 
but he went away full. He always wore spike- 
tail coats, cut high in the neck, and one particular 
blue coat with brass buttons he kept for Com- 
mencement Day. For forty years he never 
missed wearing that coat on that occasion 
Though a hard drinker all his life, and under- 
going much exposure, he was remarkably healthy, 
and died a little under eighty. 

CHAPTER XVH. 

Athens was now in her palmiest anti-bellum 
days. Population was increasing, business was 
enlarged, w^ealth accumulated. Taxes were low 
— 12 T-2 cents per $ioo. and provisions cheap. 
Chickens at five cents, beef at three cents, turkey 
gobblers at three for a dollar, were attractions 
that could not be withstood. True there were 
no daily papers, no butchers' markets, no delivery 
of goods, no pavements, no street lamps, but 
there was comfort and elegance in living, a re- 
fined and cultivated society, and all the elements 
of an attractive home. 

A census of the town was taken by Capt. Dor- 
sev. the Marshal, in 1852, and showed a po])ula 
tion of 3,462, white and black. 



161 

From 1 815 to i860 Milledge Avenue was set- 
tled. Mrs. Stovall's house, built by Mr. Sayre, 
Dr. Hunnicutt's by Jno. F. Phinizy, the Lucy 
Cobb Institute, Mr. J. M. Hodgson's, Dr. Ham- 
ilton's, Mrs. Phinizy's, Mr. Hull's, Mr. Dearing's, 
Col. Thurmond's and Mr. Yancey's, all sprang up 
a settlement in the woods. An old land mark, 
1 luggins's store, was removed to the Botanical 
Garden lot, and converted into the Swann house. 
It its place the State Bank and Southern Mutual 
Insurance Company erected the building now the 
National Bank, and from the Georgia National 
Bank around to McDowell's was rebuilt anew. 
The old Georgia Railroad depot on Carr's hill was 
built in 1856 by Mr. James Carlton, and the resi- 
dence of Dr. Lyndon, at the head of Jackson 
Street was built by Dr. E. R. Ware. 

Those lots west of Pulaski Street were held by 
the University until 1857, when they w^ere sold, as 
follows : 

No. ^T, and 44, Mrs. Stovall's and lot in 
rear, sold to J. S. and S. D. Lin- 
ton $1500 

No. 34, :\Ir. McMahan. to Geo. P. Fel- 
lows 500 

No. 38 and 39, Dr. H. C. White to A. P. 

Dearing 800 

No. 40. A. L. Hull to Mrs. Wm. Dear- 

in<j' f)0() 

No. 42. Dr. Lipscomb to J. T. Lumpkin, 400 



162 



No. 43, Judge Herrington and the Villa 

to Mary Matthews, 600 

No. 47 and 58, Dr. J. A. Hiinnicutt to 

Jno. F. Phinizy, 1400 



No. 


48 


and 57, Lucy Cobb Institute, . . . 


800 


No. 


49 


and 56, J. M. Hodgson and A. 








E. Griffeth to Jos. T. Lumpkin, . 


800 


No. 


50 


and 55, Dr. Hamilton to J. T. 








Lumpkin and Jas. Jackson, .... 


800 


No. 


51 


and 54, Mrs. F. Phinizy to Jno. 






52 


T. Grant, 


800 


No. 


and 53, A. P. Dearing, 


800 


No. 


60: 


Mrs. Wilkins to Albon Chase,. . 


150 



No. 61 to 65, From Wilkins to Hancock 

Ave., to W. W. Lumpkin 1000 

No. 66 to 71, From' Hancock Ave. to 

Waddell St.. to T. R. R. Cobb, . 1050 

The total sales, it will be seen, of all the lots 
sold from the Milledge donation of six hundred 
acres, aggregated $27,000. 

About this time there seems to have been un- 
usual meteorological disturbances. Violent floods 
washed away all the bridges in 1854. Early in 
1856 snow laid unmelted on the ground for thirty- 
three days, and a young man, James Merrit, was 
frozen to death at Barber's brick yard — now on 
Mr. Linton's place. In January, 1857, the mer- 



163 



cury fell to three degrees below zero, a feat never 
since accomplished in this place, but once when a 
few years ago it dropped to — 5. 

A telegraph line was completed to Union Point 
in 1852, but it was a short lived enterprise. The 
patronage did not pay the expenses of the opera- 
tor, and complaints were filed that messages were 
sent and had not been heard from three weeks 
afterwards. 

In 1853 an office of Combs Express Company 
was opened with Terrell M. Lampkin, Agent, 
subsequently changed to Adams Express, and 
later to the Southern Express Company, with 
Captain William Williams as Agent in 1862.. 

For thirty years this sturdy son of Wales, a 
sea captain in his earlier years, served the com- 
pany in this office and then with a life pension 
spent his few remaining years amid the flowers of 
a suburban home. 

The first Gas Works were put up by Grady & 
Nicholson near by their store on Thomas Street. 
The gas was made from pinewood, and was a 
slight improvement on candles. Their patrons, 
however, were willing to put up with less light — 
as compared with the lard oil lamp — for 
more convenience. The pipes were laid by Jack 
O'Farrell with a thoroughness yet to be seen in 
some of the older houses of the city. 

When lightwood became scarce the supply of 
gas became precarious and one never knew when 



164 

the house would be precipitated into Cimmerian 
darkness. During a session of the Methodist 
conference here Rev. Harwell Parks announced 
"Dr. W. P. Harrison will preach to-night. There 
will be plenty of gas." As Dr. Harrison was 
given to talk and sometimes scattered badly the 
announcement was greeted with applause. 

When Jefferson Lamar was married, in the 
midst of the festivities the gas went out leaving 
the wedding party in darkness. Not long after- 
wards Captain Lamar went into the army and 
was killed in battle. An old family servant who 
had long been dead appeared in a troubled 
state of mind and in consecjuence there- 
of the house became haunted. I do not 
know whether the present occupant has seen 
spooks in the house or not, but reputable 
witnesses say they used to be seen — when the gas 
was poor. 

A sad occurrence in 1852 was the death of 
Frank Bryan a student in College from Florida 
A May freshet had swollen the river until the 
water below the dam at the factory was almost on 
a level with that above and. all the banks were 
overflowed. Bryan who was a strong swimmer 
wagered a bet that he could swim across the river 
and in spite of the entreaties of his friends made 
the attempt. Half way across he was swept un- 
der bv the boiling current and dro\\ ned. Ijis 



165 



body was found after the water subsided caught 
between the rocks below the dam. 

The Athens Steam Company, later known as 
the Athens Foundry after many discouragements, 
had gotten well upon its feet when it was destroy- 
ed by fire in 1853. Again an agitation about a 
fire engine ensued which calmed down until 
Witherspoon's planing mill burned with a large 
lot of material. This brought the fire engine sub- 
ject to a focus, and the ''Independence," a second- 
hand machine, was bought in Augusta, which 
served for many years under the name ''Relief," 
and was itself burned forty years later, while 
quietly reposing in a wooden shed. 

When "Relief" was bought "A Citizen" oppos- 
ed its introduction, on the ground that somebody 
would set fire to a house just to see it work. Sure 
enough, soon after. Dr. Carlton's stable was 
burned at midday — nobody knew how — while the 
company was out on parade. 

In 1857 "Hope" was brought out and under 
Captain Reuben Xickerson saw its first service 
at the burning of Athens Factory and did good 
work in saving adjoining houses. 

Captain Nickerson was an enthusiastic fireman. 
He so distinguished himself at the Witherspoon 
fire that the citizens presented him with a silver 
plate. 

"Pioneer" Hook and Ladder Company was or- 



166 



ganized a little later and rose to fame under Cap- 
tain Henry Beusse. 

The Presbyterians and Baptists had for a long 
time been worshiping in their old churches on the 
Campus — the first on the site of the Academic 
building, the other on the corner of Broad and 
Lumpkin streets. 

The new Presbyterian Church was built in 
1855, by Ross Crane at a cost of $10,000, and the 
Baptist church by Mr. Carlton in i860. The 
negroes were permitted to hold their services in 
the old churches. When the Trustees of the Col- 
lege ordered their removal, the Baptist Church 
was destroyed by fire, it was believed, by some 
enraged colored brother who while believing in 
plenty of water did not underate the efficacy of 
fire. 

In 1837, upon the application of Rev. John J. 
Hunt, the Trustees granted the use of a lot for 
the erection of the Episcopal Church upon the 
same terms as in the case of the Presbyterian and 
Baptist. The church was not built until some 
years later, and was consecrated by Bishop Elliott 
ii; 1843. Prior to this Prof. William Bacon 
Stevens — afterwards Bishop Stevens — was or- 
ordained a deacon and preached in the old Town 
Hall. He served the church as rector and was 
followed by Mr. Linebaugh and Dr. Henderson. 

There are enough citizens of Athens who recall 
the old church as it stood on the corner of Clayton 



167 

and Lumpkin Streets before it was taken down 
and rebuilt in the rear of the new Emmanuel 
Church, 

Dr. Matthew H. Henderson, for many years 
rector of the Episcopal Church was a quiet, 
gentle man, cultured and refined. He married 
Miss Ada Screven of Savannah who was a devot- 
ed wife to him through life. He bought from Dr. 
Linton the square where the Henderson ware- 
house stands, which by the way was called so be- 
cause he once owned the lot. The house in 
which he lived was moved to the corner and 
forms the body of the Windsor Hotel. 

Dr. Henderson did not make many friends out- 
side his own flock because with his retiring dis- 
position, not many outside knew him. He died in 
1872 and is buried in Oconee Cemetery. 

The old cemetery on Jackson Street having 
been nearly filled by the burials of forty years, a 
tract of woodland lying on the Oconee was pur- 
chased by some citizens, and a new cemetery was 
incorporated and named from the river, Oconee 
Cemetery. It was opened in 1855, the expenses 
of making the drives and the grading being paid 
by the sale of lots. 

This is one of the most beautiful of spots, 
adorned by nature with forest trees, with vines 
covering hillsides, clinging to rocks and 
climbing the sombre pines, while at the foot of 
the hills the Oconee murmurs between banks 



168 



redolent with honeysuckle and jessamine. And 
now that too is crowded with the narrow homes 
of the dead and more acres have been purchased 
across the river for those whose threads of life 
Hecate is waiting to cut. 

In years gone by public amusement consisted 
mainly of traveling singers, with an occasional 
prestidigitateur and ventriloquist. But the circus 
was the standard show of the day. Students 
were not permitted to go to a circus, but they 
managed to get there, disguising themselves, and 
blacking their faces and sitting among the ne- 
groes to escape detection. Almost everybody else 
went, and John and Jimmie Robinson were re- 
garded as personal friends. 

The old Town Hall was for many a year, and 
until after the war, the only theatre. A platform, 
lo X 15, elevated the actors above the audience, 
while the calico curtain hung across a corner of 
the hall afforded an opportunity to make up their 
costumes, and another in front of the platform 
hid the glories of the stage from the expectant 
congregation. Oil lamps smoked the sides of 
the room, and a row of candles did duty as foot- 
lights. 

Here concerts and tableaux were held, and 
Signor Blitz and old Sloman and Kemmerer 
with his singing school, and in later days, John 
Templeton, and Alice Vane and Harry McCarthy, 
and Harry Crisp, the father of the some time 



169 



Speaker of the House, played to delighted and 
non-critical audiences. And though looking 
back, those primitive entertainments seem 
absurd and ridiculous, they afforded as 
much genuine pleasure as the plays of Booth or 
the Italian Opera — with the advantage of being 
very much cheaper. 

CHAPTER XVni. 

The College Commencement was for many 
}'ears the occasion of the annual gathering of the 
prominent men of the State. It was a leisure 
time and summer resorts were few in number, 
traveling was tedious and expensive, and this was 
the occasion and the place which attracted the 
young and old, the grave and gay. Here the poli- 
ticians met and made up the slates and arranged 
the details of their campaigns. The citizens threw 
open their hospitable doors for the entertainment 
of all their friends and acquaintances with their 
children and servants and horses. Many families 
from the low country spent the summer in Athens, 
and excursions to Tallulah Falls and a few weeks 
at the Madison Springs, was the usual sequence. 

Commencement day in old times was a day of 
days. A little after sun up, the country people 
began coming in, with women and babies and 
baskets, and all the hitching posts and vacant lots 
were appropriated for horses and wagons. When 



170 



tlie band began to play, swarms of people crowd- 
ed the Campus. The Chapel, long since filled, now 
became packed from aisle to gallery. Standing 
in windows, on the steps of the stage, on boxes 
outside, they took up every inch of space. Broad 
Street from the hotel down, was a solid mass of 
human beings. It was the annual holiday of 
the negroes, and every darkey from ten miles 
away came to town that day. Around the old 
Town Spring, booths were erected and tables 
spread. Watermelon, chicken pies, ginger cakes, 
fried chicken and lemonade tempted the hungry 
visitor to spend his quarter. Industrious mer- 
chants cried and sang their wares, and acquaint- 
ance and kindred renewed their pledges and invi- 
tattions to "come and see me." The variety of 
costumes was a marvel to behold— muslins and 
velvets, laces and homespun in every style of fash- 
ion from the days of the Revolution up. It was 
a great day, full of life and color, sunshine and 
dust. 

It was at such a time that the story of Robert 
Toombs which has swung round the circle of the 
papers of late years, represents him expelled from 
college for gambling, standing beneath the old 
oak in front of the college chapel, pouring forth 
such burning words of eloquence that the chapel 
is deserted and the speakers left to declaim to 
empty benches. And from this circumstance, 
the old tree has ever since been known as the 



171 

"Toombs Oak." It has even been said that on 
the day of A'Ir. Toombs' death, the old oak was 
sruck by Hghtning and destroyed. There is not 
the semblance of truth in the story. It was a 
fabrication of Henry W. Grady, who, in an ad- 
miring' sketch of the great Georgian, wrote 
charmingly of his overwhelming eloquence and 
pointed it with a story drawn from his own vivid 
imagination. 

Another annual festival which not many now 
recall was the "hog killing" on the plantation. 
How vivid the scene seems after nearly fifty 
years. The morning is crisp and frosty. The prep- 
arations for the slaughter have been made, the big 
fire of logs sends the sparks curling high in air, 
while the rocks grow red hot that are to heat the 
water in the hogshead. The negro women are 
are standing at the tables ready to separate the 
leaf fat and the livers. A sharp crack of a rifle 
is heard in the hog pen. A big hog drops and a 
darkey deftly thrusts a sharp knife into its throat, 
gives it a twist and out spirts the crimson blood. 
A few minutes more and brawney black arms lift 
the limp porker, thrust him into the hogshead of 
boiling water and out again in a jiffey. The hair 
is quickly scraped ofif,the grambrel is slipped be- 
neath the tendrons, the porker is hung upon a pole 
and disembowelled. Everybody is busy and the 
children revel in tid bits broiled over the hot fire 
on the end of a switch and scantily salted. The 



172 



next day the busy mistress superintends 
the cutting up of the meat with her wilHng at- 
tendants frying out the lard, salting down the 
hams and grinding up the sausage meat. It is 
a festal season. The pigtails and the spareribs 
and big hominy and the crackling bread ! Food 
for the gods I Ah those times are forever gone ! 

And where will you see the big log fires with 
the hot bed of coals beneath, or the bank of ashes 
v/here the sweet potatoes lay roasting? Where 
is the oven, heaped around with coals wherein 
slowly bakes the Christmas fruit cake? And 
the spit impaling the well browned turkey? And 
the crane on which hangs the pot of savory meat? 
Gone ! All relegated to the museum along with 
the chain armor of the middle ages. And where 
are the old time negroes? Gone, all gone! I well 
remember old Uncle Mike, the patriarch and 
foreman of the plantation. No hired overseer 
gave him orders. To his master alone was he 
answerable. With his white wooley head and 
benign black face, the asperity of his dignity 
softened by the courtliness of his manner, he 
would call up the hands with his cheerful "come 
boys!" and lead them to the cotton field. 

And there was Big Bart of stalwart frame who 
could cut a wider swathe than any of them as he 
swung the cradle in the wheat field. And Little 
Bufif, how the chips did fly from his axe as he 
"downed" the tall hickory in the woods. And old 



173 



Squire who had many a tale to tell as he mended 
the plantation shoes or wove the cotton ba-kets 
of the smooth white oak splits. And old Aunt 
Malinda with a bandanna neatly tied around her 
head and a kerchief pinned across her ample 
bosom. What visions of hoe cake and broiled meat 
rind butter milk, fresh from the churn used to 
g^reet us as we came into her kitchen from a long- 
tramp. And one legged Bill, who cut the wood for 
the house fires and rubbed the knives and cleaned 
tiie boots, and the little niggers who picked the 
blackberries and climbed the trees for red June 
apples, or gathered the brown hickory nuts, and 
the black eyed chinquepin. 

They and their like are gone. No more court- 
eous Uncle Mikes ; no more Aunt Malindas, no 
bandanna kerchiefs, no hoe cake and fresh butter 
milk. In their place a spectacled combination of 
the pulpit and the schoolroom. The old place 
once so full of life is almost deserted. A negro 
renter is its only tenant. The big hickory 
is dead, the apple orchard has vanished, 
the gin house is gone: the old quar- 
ters have rotted down and a mulberry thicket in. 
charity hides the ruins. Master and mistress are 
dead. The faithful negroes arc but memories of 
the past. 



174 



x\ remarkable family of negroes had for their 
ancestors Bartlett Daricott and his wife Sally, 
who belonged to Rev. Hope Hull. Both they and 
their nine children were persons of integity and 
strength of character and justly deserved the es- 
teem in which they were held by all their white 
acquaintances. Many of their descendants are 
living in Athens. Of the older generation Billy 
and Davy Hull were well known carpenters. The 
former was for years the college carpenter. Dr. 
Church stopped at his bench once and watching 
him push his plane said "Billy, what makes you 
work so slowly ?" Stopping to spit on his hands 
— a habit he always had before speaking — Billy 
replied "Mass Church, I am not working by the 
job. nor by the day ; but by my life." The doctor 
had nothing more to say. Davy was a natural 
wit and had a keen sense of humor. The stu- 
dents called him doctor. Once a dozen of them 
passed him while shingling a house near the 
street, and began greeting him with "How are 
you, doctor," "Good morning doctor," "How d'ye 
do, doctor" in quick succession without giving 
him time to answer. Davy stood up and as soon 
as the laughing students would hear him, called 
out ''Gentlemen, I am /;/ statu quo." When Willis 
Cooper was the town marshal, he met Davy one 
nigfht after nine o'clock. "Well, Daw," "Good 
evening Mas Willis. I hope you are well sir," 
said Dave. "Well Davy, have you a pass?" "No, 



175 



Mas Willis, I neglected to provide one before I 
left home, sir." "Well, I am sorry, but you know 
what I am obliged to do, Davy." "Yes, sir," said 
Dave "When a gentleman gets caught out in a 
shower of rain without an unbrella, he's just got 
to take it." Fortunately, to the great relief of 
both of them, a gentleman came by who stood 
sponsor for the delincjuent and he was allowed to 
go. After the slaves were freed Dr. King asked 
him, "Well Dave, what are you going to do now ?" 
"Well doctor, I been thinking about that, and I 
believe if Mas Henry will give me a hundred 
dollars, I'll let him off." Poor fellow! he did not 
live long enough to test the value of his freedom. 
He died of small pox that scourge of the colored 
people in the year after the war. Characters like 
these were developed under conditions that are 
forever gone ; nor will their like ever be known 
again. 

Among some other well known negroes who 
have a place in the history of Athens, Tom Harris 
was prominent and most portly. He was Col. 
Hardeman's factotum and sexton of the Metho- 
dist Church, big, fat and amiable, not especially 
energetic but a man of fine itelligence and re- 
spected by himself and the white people as well. 

Old Sam — by birth Harris but by freedom 
Watkins — was the college bell ringer. He made 
the fires in the professors' rooms, sometimes 



176 

swept them out and was at the beck and call of 
every student in Old and New College. 

Rob Roy was General Harden's valet, driver, 
butler and office boy. Rob was a cross eyed, 
freckled mulatto of no great beauty who lived to 
a great age — nobody knew how old he was. He 
waited on John Howard Payne, when a guest of 
his master's house and remembered him well, and 
the older he grew the more things he remembered 
about him. 

But for old negroes, Dennis Clayton — I think 
he is still alive — takes the prize. If Dennis really 
saw things he said he did he belongs to the paleo- 
zoic age. He claims however to have been only 
thirteen years of age when Judge Clayton bought 
him in 1805 from a negro trader. 

Bernardo Arze was a barber who claimed to 
be a Mexican. Perhaps he was. but he married 
a negro woman belonging to Col. Billups and paid 
the town $50 per annum for her to live away from 
her master's lot. This license was graded but 
all free negroes and those slaves living apart from 
their masters' own sight had to pay it. 

George Davis was an apprentice of Bernardo's 
and a free negro. George was quite a musician 
and went through the war as bugler to the Troup 
Artillery. His "Band" after the war was in fre- 
quent demand and he operated a "Demociatic 
barber shop." until his death. 

For years ''Old Tub" was the friend of the col- 



177 



lege boys and they recall him with his sightless 
eyes and his dilapidated beaver as one of the 
features of college life. Lewis was a slave of 
John H. Christy and his business was to turn the 
crank when the Southern IVatchinan went to 
press. He was emancipated by special proclama- 
tion of the President of the United States — along 
with others — and then took up the business of 
blind beggar. Tub was quite successful at this 
and made a fairly good living for many years, 
but died at last in great poverty. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

I do not suppose any town or city has been less 
inclined to toadyism than Athens. Her people 
n.ever bowed the knee to greatness nor sacrificed 
tiieir self-respect to adulation of those in power. 
Too many great men had spent their boyhood 
liere in college and had gone in and out among 
the people with no great claim to worship. We 
were familiar with great men for a hundred years 
and had our own, had played with them as boys, 
helped them out of scrapes, lent them money 
when "broke," saved them from arrest; and must 
we stand in silent admiration when they come 
back in after years, though loaded with honors? 
And as to strangers, who were any better than our 
own statesmen and soldiers whose names glow in 
t'le history of the co'ntry ? Were not the Lump- 



178 

kins and Cobbs and Clayton and Dougherty and 
Hill our neighbors? Were not Crawford and 
Troup and Berrien and Jenkins our frequent visi- 
tors? Have we not had Governors galore in our 
homes and were not our soldiers victors in a hun- 
dred battles ? Did not Pierce and Palmer and 
Toombs and Stephens and Gordon play marbles 
with us in years gone by ? Then to whom should 
we kotow? As a matter of fact the Athenian 
to the manner born kotows to nobody. But for 
genuine hospitality and courtesy to every class 
the old time Athenian was unsurpassed because he 
was a gentleman ; and because he knew he was a 
gentleman he wasn't stuck up. It is the cad who 
assumes a superiority to other men and the self- 
confessed inferior who runs after men of renown. 

Athens has been called the Classic City, not 
from her ancient namesake, but because she has 
been the acknowledged seat of learning in Geor- 
gia for many years. 

She has always had the amplest school facilities. 
After the decline of the Manual Labor School, 
Mr. James Fulton taught a boy's school near the 
Bishop residence on Jackson Street. He was a 
strict disciplinarian, and believed in a free use 
of the birch. There are still among us some of 
his old pupils, who have a feeling recollection of 
his attentions. Mr. A. M. Scudder succeeded to 
his patronage, occupying the little house near the 
colored Congregationalist Church before he built 



179 



the "Centre Hill Academy," where he taught a 
flourishing school for many years, and whipped 
half the men in town. Prof. Williams Ruther- 
ford, before his appointment in the College 
faculty, taught in the room vacated by Mr. Scud- 
der, and was followed by Mr. Thomas Seay. And 
there were Mr. Barrett and old man Driver and 
Mr. Hunt, all of whom taught the young idea 
with shoots. 

A select school for boys was opened in 1859 
by Mr. R. P. Adams— "Old Rip," as the boys 
used to call him— in a little house on the rear of 
Dr. Hull's lot. Mr. x\dams was the most ami- 
able of men, and though the boys took advantage 
of that fact, as the best of boys will, he was much 
beloved by them all. He did not believe in whip- 
ping as a punishment, and the boys unanimously 
endorsed him in this position. Two favorite 
pupils of Mr. Adams were Andrew Lamar and 
Henry Grady, who were so devoted to each other 
that they were wont to kiss each other good bye 
on parting, until alas ! they set their afifections on 
the same girl and no longer took pleasure in each 
other's charms. 

Miss Emily Witherspoon began teaching in 
1843 ^1""^ taught for many years a school for chil- 
dren near her residence. Some of our most pro- 
minent citizens have learned their letters at her 
knee, and drawn pot-hooks under her watchful 
eve, advancing through the blue black speller to 



180 



the dizzy heights of BulHon's Latin Grammar. 
Miss Emily after pursuing the even tenor of her 
way, full of Christian charity, a daily blessing to 
many a poor neighbor, was horribly burned by 
the explosion of a lamp and died in January 1906. 

The Athens Female Academy was first presided 
over by Rev. Thomas Stanley, father of the late 
Major Stanley, and in 1845 t>y Carlyle P. Martin. 
Later, Mrs. Coley took charge and maintained a 
flourishing school till the close of the war. The 
old house was burned in 1872. To others besides 
the writer does "Mrs. Coley's school" bring up 
memories of happy days gone by. 

The "Grove School" for girls was taught in 
what is now the Catholic Chapel, under the dir- 
ection of Mr. Cobb. Mrs. E. Bishop, Mrs. William 
Gerdine, and Miss Galloway, a sister of Mrs. 
Alex T. Akerman were successively in charge of 
the school, and many ladies of Athens once sat 
under their instruction. 

There was another Grove School at a later 
date taught by Miss Julia Moss and I happen to 
have an old programme of one of her commence- 
ments. Jim Barrow spake "The two squirrels." 
Yancey Harris recited "I can and I can't." 
Johnnie Moss delivered an "Eulogy on Debt" and 
Gerald Green told of "The Geography Demon." 
All did well and gave promise of future distinc- 
tion 

In 1854, a communication appeared in the 
Southern Watchman earnestly deprecating the 



181 

necessity of sending Southern girls to Northern 
schools to be educated, and appealing to the 
patriotism of Georgians to found a high school 
for Georgia girls. 

This led to action which resulted in the build- 
ing of the Female High School in 1857. The 
communication referred to was written by Mrs. 
Williams Rutherford, and it was the patriotism 
of her brother, Thomas R. R. Cobb, all ignorant 
ox the author that responded to the appeal. To 
his energy and aid was due the beginning and 
completion of the school, and in recognition of 
his work the Trustees named it, after a beloved 
daughter, "Lucy Cobb Institute." The exercises 
were first opened in January, 1859, under Princi- 
pal Wright, and the May festival and concert 
given that year is still remembered as a most 
brilliant occasion. 

Among the notable characters in the history of 
education in Athens was Dr. Alonzo Church 
who was President of the University from 1829 
to 1859 and was for forty years a member of the 
faculty. 

Dr. Church was a native of Vermont and a 
graduate of Middlebury College. Soon after his 
graduation he went to Eatonton, Georgia, to take 
charge of the academy at that place. He there 
met and married Miss Sarah Trippe, a lady of 
superior accomplishments and rare beauty. Com- 
ing to Athens in 1819, as professor of mathe- 



182 

matics, Dr. Church conducted his department 
with eminent success and so impressed the Trus- 
tees by his force of character, that upon the re- 
tirement of President Waddell, he was at once un- 
animously chosen in his place. 

In person, Dr. Church was tall and well-pro- 
portioned, of dark complexion, with lustrous 
black eyes and hair, graceful in carriage and 
dignified in bearing. He was of a quick temper 
and absolutely fearless, but had great self-con- 
trol. Well behaved students had respect and af- 
fection for him, but the disorderly feared and 
c;voided him more than any other member of the 
faculty. He was a rigid disciplinarian, prompt 
to correct and rebuke the slightest indication of 
disorder or inattention in his class-room; and yet 
ill his kindness of heart, he would help along an 
ill -prepared student almost to the extent of re- 
citing the lesson for him. 

It was the custom in t'lat day to hold nioming 
and evening prayers in the chapel. Dr. Church 
always lead the evening service, and it was ex- 
pected that some other member of the faculty 
would conduct that of the morning. One morn- 
ing the students were so disorderly that Profes- 
sor Ward went after the President. Seeing him 
walking across the campus, the Professor called 
to him, "Oh Doctor, come here. We can do noth- 
ing with the students." Dr. Church walked at 
once into the chapel and looked around without 



183 



speaking a word. Death-like silence ensued. 
Taking up the Bible, he read a chapter, offered 
a prayer and without another word dismissed 
the students, who quietly made their exit. As an 
example of the discipline President Church ex- 
ercised, may be mentioned the expulsion of eleven 
students in a bunch for riotous conduct on the 
campus one night. One of the condemned was 
Howell Cobb, who was reinstated upon the 
solemn declaration of his mother that she had 
n'ade him retire and had afterwards seeu him 
asleep in bed on the very night of the riot. Others 
v/ho claimed to have seen him on the 
campus, without disputing Mrs. Cobb's state- 
ment, suggested that he might have dressed 
and slipped out of the window after his mother's 
visit to his room. 

Dr. Church's family were remarkable for their 
personal beauty. He and Mrs. Church were a 
singularly handsome couple; his sons were all 
handsome men and the daughters were the toasts 
of every student of their time. Especially beauti- 
ful were Miss Julia and Miss Lizzie, afterwards 
Mrs. Croom and Mrs. Craig, and there no doubt 
lingers yet in the memory of some old student of 
the forties, delightful recollections of evenings 
passed in their parlors. To the unremitting mni- 
istrations of Mrs. Craig, then Mrs. Robbe, many 
a sick and wounded Confederate prisoner during 



184 

the war, owed such cheer and comfort as she was 
permitted to extend them. 

Dr. Church, with his masterful character, had 
long dominated both faculty and trustees. He 
had views on the proper conduct of a college, 
which amounted to convictions. The officer who 
could not or would not come up to his standard, 
or who could not accept his views, was in his 
opinion not the officer the college needed. Com- 
plaints were made, without mincing matters, of 
incompetency or of neglect of duty. 

In 1856, the President addressed the Trustees 
in no uncertain tone. Said he, "The number of 
students present at this time is seventy-nine, and 
I am constrained to say that even with this small 
number, the discipline of the institution is far 
worse than I have ever known it during the 
thirty-seven years of my connection with it." 

Then he proceeds to state what he considers 
the cause of the decline. He referred to the 
want of harmony in the faculty during the past 
few years, the differences of opinion as to the 
government and course of instruction ; the re- 
fusal of Professor Jones to comply with the con- 
ditions upon which he was elected ; the changes 
in the course of study made by Mr. McCay and 
Dr. LeConte against his protest ; the inattention 
of Professor McCay to his duties ; the refusal 
of the LeContes to visit the rooms of the students 



185 



or to suppress disorder on the campus; the re- 
fusal of Professor Venable to perform the same 
duties; the inability of Professor Waddell to 
maintain order or to control his classes ; the want 
of professional qualifications in Professor Broun. 
He appealed to the community, the resident 
Trustees and the citizens of the State to witness 
whether any other object than the prosperty of 
the college had engrossed his attention since his 
first connection with its faculty. 

The effect of this communication was an im- 
mediate resolution that all the members of the 
facuty be requested to furnish the Board with 
their respective resignations forthwith, with a 
view of the reorganization of said faculty. The 
request was complied with, with apparent cheer- 
fulness. 

Dr. Church did not much longer remain in of- 
fice. His final resignation took effect January i, 
1859, when he retired with a widowed daughter, 
the only one of his family left in Athens, to -a 
residence a little out of town. There in peace 
and in quietude, but with failing health, he lived 
until during the following year, the summons of 
the Master came. 

Two noted ladies were Mrs. John LeConte 
and Mrs. Craig, both women of extraordinary 
beauty and the reigning bells of Athens society. 
They gathered around them each a coterie of 
admirers who vied with each other in devotion 



186 



to their queen. The rivalry between the two 
came near spHtting the town into factions. Not 
only men but women took sides on the momentous 
question. "Which is the more beautiful" and 
only the conservative, elderly element prevented 
another war of the Roses. Indeed seldom does 
a little town have one such woman of such sur- 
passing attractions of person and manner as 
Athens claimed in these two ladies. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Of all the College Professors there was none 
more positive in character than Charles F. Mc- 
Cay. Mr. McCay was elected Professor of 
mathmatics to succeed Dr. Hull. He married a 
daughter of Mr. William Williams soon after 
coming to Athens. He was a fine scholar and an 
exacting teacher. He was sure to find out all 
the student didn't know about the lesson. He 
seemed to take genuine delight in "busting" a boy 
and showed no sympathy for him when he was 
down. Withal he was a conscientious profes- 
sor, a strict disciplinarian and a fearless police 
officer. Naturally, he was unpopular with the 
students, and many were the attacks upon his 
door and the rocks that went through his win- 
dows on dark nights, when he roomed in New 
College. On several occasions he was violently 
assaulted by riotous students. In 1841, 



187 

there was committed one of those senseless 
outrages that students are sometimes led into 
without considering its criminality or its possible 
results. Mr. AlcCay was at the time Professor 
of civil engineering. During his absence one 
night, his room was forcibly entered, his books, 
bedding and clothing taken out and burned back 
of New College. There were numerous witnes- 
ses to the burning, bat there was some difficulty 
in finding out who were the guilty parties. The 
students arraigned before the faculty all admitted 
being there, but declared they were trying to put 
out the fire and save the clothes. Mr. McCay 
strongly suspected several boys, one of them 
young Mr. Bearing, who, it was afterwards 
shown was innocent, and accused them before 
the Faculty. This accusation led to a difficulty 
and a challenge from Dr. William E. Dearing, 
an older brother of the accused. Mr. McCay 
promptly accepted the challenge and a meeting 
was arranged to take place at the old cemetery 
just back of the campus. An amicable settle- 
ment was made before shots were exchanged, 
but Professor McCay at once sent in his resigna- 
tion to the Prudential Committee. He was re- 
quested to continue in his chair until the meeting 
of the Board. The matter having been brought 
up, a long, spirited discussion ensued, which re- 
sulted in the Professor being permitted, by a 
close vote, to withdraw his resignation. 



188 



One night a student provided himself with a 
"locust" made of a match-box with parchment 
stretched over the end, through which a horse 
hair was passed. This interesting toy, when 
twirled around, made a loud, rasping noise like 
the insect from which it took its name. Quietly- 
climbing into the trap hole in the passage by Mr. 
McCay's door, he made his locust sing. As he 
expected, Mr. McCay at once came out into the 
passage, looked up and down, but seeing no one 
went back. The locust began singing again and 
immediately the Professor emerged. Simultan- 
eously the noise ceased. Baffled again, Mr. Mc- 
Cay returned and stood behind his door. At the 
repetition of the noise, he suddenly threw open 
the door and the noise suddenly ceased. Then 
he pulled off his shoes and slipped up to the end 
of the hall, shutting his door rather noisily to 
deceive the aggressor. But as the mischievous 
boy was looking at him all the time, the match- 
box was silent. Then the professor went back to 
his room and the noise was repeated. Finally, 
he located the disturber of his peace and delib- 
erately brought his table, lamp, and chair and 
took his seat outside the door, determin^^d to 
catch the offender if it took all night. It did not 
take so long, for the discomfort of his situation 
and the certain prospect of spending the night 
ir, the attic, brought about an unconditional sur- 
render of the "locust," which was followed the 



189 



next day by the usual summons before the faculty. 
After Mr. McCay left the University, he be- 
came professor at Columbia, and subsequently, 
was made President of South Carolina College 
Removing later to Augusta, Georgia, he engaged 
in banking and insurance business and acquired 
a handsome property. After the close of the war, 
he went to Baltimore, where he spent the remain- 
der of his days. 

In 1879 Mr. McCay proved his lasting interest 
ir> the University with which he was so long con- 
nected by executing to the Trustees a deed of 
gift to seven thousand dollars in bonds upon 
the following trusts and limitations, to- 
wit: That the interest on this fund shall 
be collected and reinvested so that it shall 
be compounded annually until the expiration of 
twenty-one years after the death of the last sur- 
vivor of twenty-five persons, all of whom are 
named and the youngest of whom was an infant 
at the time. ''And after the I^pse of the said 
time, the said trustees shall continue to keep the 
aggregate sum so accumulated on the bonds and 
stocks before mentioned, as a permanent fund, 
and shall use the interest or dividends therefrom 
for the payment of the salaries of professor's or 
lecturers in the University of Geofgia, residing 
in Athens, Ga., where the University is located." 

Some years later, by mutual consent, the bonds 
delivered to the trustees were exchanged by Mr. 



190 

McCay for State of Georgia bonds of the face 
value of $15,000. The fund now amounts to 
about $35,000. 

It has been estimated that about one hundred 
years will have expired before the interest of this 
fund can be available under the trust. In that 
time, if no disaster befall, the fund will have 
amounted to several millions, and the University 
will have a large income from that source with 
which to pay the salaries of its professors. 

More than passing notice is due to some of the 
Professors who severed their connection with the 
University in the upheaval of 1856. 

The LeContes were native Georgians, both 
alumni and honor men of the University. Their 
difficulties here were by no means due to in- 
capacity or lack of effective teaching. Both men 
oi piety and pure lives, lovable in their characters, 
devoted to scientific research, they had the active 
talent which has put them in the front rank of 
America's savants. They, with Professors Broun 
and Venable, represented the advanced thought 
of the day. They believed the University should 
be at least a high-grade college, and that univer- 
sity methods should be introduced at Athens. 
Dr. Church, conservative and wise, opposed radi- 
cal changes being made and declared that the 
university system was unsuited to the age at 
which students attended this college. The young 
professors espoused the geological doctrine of 



191 



the creation of the world. Dr. Church abhorred 
it as the rankest heresy. The one party were 
disposed to relax the exactions of police duty 
on the campus and to put more responsibility for 
good conduct on the boys themselves. Dr. Church 
regarded strict discipline as the foundation stone 
of the college edifice. 

With such divergent views, a rupture was in- 
evitable, and the Board, themselves conservative 
almost to "old fogyism," sustained the President 
when the issue was made. 

The LeContes went to Columbia, S. C, and 
after the war, to the University of California, 
building an enviable reputation as teachers and 
scientists. Dr. John LeConte died a few year? 
ago the president of that University. Dr. Joseph 
LeConte succeeded his brother and remained 
there full of honors until his death in 1904. 

Professor Venable's connection with the Uni- 
versity was too brief to make much of her his- 
tory. He was known during the war as Ad- 
jutant to the great commander. Gen. Robert K. 
Lee, and for many years since was Professor of 
mathematics at the University of Virginia and 
Chairman of its Faculty. 

William LeRoy Broun was one of the ablest 
men who had ever been connected with the Uni- 
versity. He was not only a close student and 
exact in his store of knowledge, but a broad- 
minded, liberal man. He conscientiously en- 



192 



deavored to enlarge the sphere of the University 
and increase its capacity for usefulness. It was 
the divergence of their views, though both aimed 
at the same result, that brought on the separa- 
tion betwen him and Dr. Church in 1856. 

After an enviable record in the army Col 
Eroun returned to Athens in 1866 to take the 
chair of physics, and in 1873 was made President 
of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic 
Arts. In the exercise of this office Dr. Broun 
desired to extend the work of that branch of the 
University, and required all the land-scrip fund 
to accomplish it. He disapproved of the policy 
the Trustees had adopted of scattering that fund 
among the branch colleges, and in a public ad- 
dress unfortunately charged them with misap- 
propriating it. Though he did not intend the 
remark in an offensive sense, it did give great 
offense, and at the ensuing meeting of the Board 
their disapprobation of his course was expressed 
in the strongest terms. Professor Broun, con- 
ceiving his opportunity for usefulness to be at an 
end, resigned. 

"Little Bruin," as the boys called him, was a 
well-known figure at Athens. Short of statue, 
with an immense head and large, projecting fore- 
head, his personnel was peculiarly his own. 

After leaving Athens, Colonel Broun went to 
Vanderbilt and was subsequently chosen Presi- 
dent of the A. and M. College at Auburn, Ala- 



193 



bama, which office he administered with marked 
abihty until his death. 

In 1848 William T, Brantly was elected Pro- 
fessor of belles-lettres and oratory in the Univer- 
sity of Georgia, and here he spent the happiest 
years of his life. A charming wife and lovely 
children, ample means and a congenial occupation 
combined to make his days full of pleasure, while 
he enjoyed the society of the best people and the 
most cultured intellects in the State. 

Dr. Brantly was himself an ornament to any 
society. Handsome and cultured, courtly in 
manner, a brilliant talker, an eloquent speaker, 
he was a welcome guest at every gathering. 
While a professor at Athens he also served the 
Baptist church as pastor. His sermons were ele- 
gant, yet easy of comprehension, and the students, 
a? well as the poor and unlearned, flocked to hear 
his discourses. A polished and graceful orator, 
he inspired his pupils with his own love of elo- 
quence and some of the most attractive speakers 
of our State learned their tones and gestures 
from this master of oratory. 

Eight happy years, full of valuable service to 
the University, were spent at Athens when the 
connection was severed by the trustees asking the 
resignation of the entire faculty. Although Dr. 
Brantly was re-elected to his chair — perhaps, un- 
animously — the sense of the slight tenure of office 
under such methods was a potent factor in de- 



194 



ciding him to accept a call to Philadelphia. Serv- 
ing the church there until after the battle of Man- 
assas, in 1861, he resigned his charge and cast 
his lot with his own people in Atlanta. 

The first Mrs. Brantly, a daughter of Dr. Tur- 
pin, of Augusta, died in 1866. A charming 
woman she was, whose beauty and attractions, 
with all the brillinr.c}- of the father, were inherited 
by a lovely daughter, Miss Lou, the sweet-heart 
of half the students of the time. 

In 1 87 1 Dr. Brantly moved to Baltimore where 
he served the church for eleven years. On the 
night of March 5th, 1882 having preached as 
usual during the day he laid down to rest and 
never woke again on earth. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

One of the most charming men the University 
ever brought to Athens was Richard Malcolm 
Johnston who though a citizen for but a few 
years made so many friends and so impressed 
himself upon the social life of the city that it 
seems he must have lived here all his life. 

Richard M. Johnston was born at Powellton, 
Ga. A lawyer by profession and a student by 
taste, he brought to the chair to which he was 
elected plenty of common sense and a thorough 
knowledge of boys. Full of humor, genial and 
kind, he attracted a student at first sight. Ouick 



195 



to detect a deception, he did not hestitate to visit 
his scorn upon the deceiver ; and, if by chance, 
he did any injvistice to a student, he was quick 
to offer him the apology due a gentleman in the 
presence of the class. He endeavored to culti- 
vate in the young men under him an innate love 
for truth and honor for their own sake. Col. 
Johnston was a favorite with all — young and old, 
students, faculty and citizens. He and Mrs. 
Johnston, both accompished musicians, were 
always in demand at every social gathering, and 
there was universal regret when they left Athens 
to open a boys' school near Sparta. Subsequent- 
ly removing to Baltimore, Col. Johnston conduct- 
ed a most flourishing school at Waverly. In 
later years he devoted himself to writing char- 
acter sketches of Georgia folks, and all his "out- 
put" was readily in demand for the magazines. 
Though advanced in years, his heart kept young 
and his memory green. The news of his death 
was received North and South with sorrow and 
regret. 

A fine old gentleman was Col. John Billups. 
He was born a few miles below Athens in the 
house where old John Milledge's committee met 
to locate the University. 

Col. Billups was a typical planter of the old 
regime. He owned a large and fertile plantation 
and many negroes, made lots of money, spent 
what he wanted and saved some. He built a 



196 



fine old home where Mrs. Ross Crane now hves 
and which was destroyed by fire after his death. 
He Hved in affluence ; his boys had horses and 
negroes, his daughters all they desired. The 
Colonel was a man of influence in the com- 
munity. He was an ardent Whig and was at 
different times in the Legislature, Speaker of the 
House and President of the Senate. He was for 
years a Trustee of the University and was pro- 
minent in every public movement. I recall him 
as an old gentleman of great dignity and extreme 
courtesy ; clean shaven, well dressed, wearing a 
standing collar and high stock , walking with a 
cane which struck the ground with an 'T said it 
and I mean it" air. Col. Billups was of the kind 
of men who made the Old South the glory of 
America. 

Georgia has had no more distinguished citizens 
tlian the brothers, Wilson and Joseph H. Lump- 
kin, both natives of Oglethorpe County. The 
one the eldest, the other the youngest of eight 
children, and as dissimilar as brothers could be. 
One a shrewd politician, the other abhorring poli- 
tics ; one commanding by his ability, the other 
persuading by his eloquence ; one robust in his 
aggressiveness, the other fond of study ; one a 
Baptist, the other a Presbyterian ; one an adherent 
of Clarke, the other of Troup ; one a Democrat, 
the other a Whig; one tall, the other short in 



197 

stature, but both men of striking presence, and 
both of great abihty. 

Wilson Lumpkin was Congressman, United 
States Senator and Governor of Georgia. Dur- 
ing his administration the State Road was built 
and he devoted his energies to the material de- 
velopment of the State. 

Governor Lumpkin was long the President of 
the Board of Trustees of the University. As 
he headed the procession to the chapel on com- 
mencement occasions with a tall, commanding 
presence, erect and dignified, with long hair 
brushed back from his head and falling over his 
shoulders in gray curls he seemed one of the 
most impressive men I had ever seen. He was 
thrice married, and built the old stone house 
now in the campus extension, in which he lived 
for many years, and where he died in the closing 
days of 1870. Que of his children, a very bright 
and attractive boy of six or seven years, wan- 
dered one afternoon away from the house and 
lost his way in the woods along the river. Though 
search was made all night he was not found till 
next morning, exhausted with wandering and 
wild with terror. The horrors of the darkness of 
that night destroyed his mind, and though he 
grew to be a man of fine proportions and pleasing 
countenance, mentally he was never any older 
than the morning he was found, and forty years 
afterward, as though he recalled that dreadful 



198 



night, he wandered again into the woods and was 
drowned in the river not far from the place 
where thev found him before. 




OIvD HOME OK JLIDGIC JOSEPH HENfRY LUMPKIN. 

Judge Lumpkin was a learned jurist and a 
finished scholar. He loved study, and was a 
great reader. His speeches, of which no record 
now remains, were full of pathos and the fire of 
eloquence, and his decisions while on the Su- 
preme bench are models of clearness and elegant 
composition. A natural teacher, for many years 
he imparted instruction to the young men in his 
office and in the Lumpkin Law School, charm- 
ing them alike by the elegance of his language 
and the thoroughness of his knowledge. He was 
a great temperance advocate, and his voice, al- 



199 



ways heard on the side of righteousness, was a 
power for good. 

Judge Lumpkin was the first Chief Justice of 
Georgia. Chief Justice Bkickley said of him : 
"His Hterary power was in vocal utterance. In 
the spoken words he was a Hterary genius, far 
surpassing any other Georgian living or dead, I 
have ever known. Indeed, from no other mortal 
lips have I heard such harmonies and sweet- 
sounding sentences as came from his. Those 
who never saw and heard him cannot be made 
to realize what a great master he was." Judge 
Lumpkin died June 4, 1867, from a stroke of 
paralysis. 

Although the persons of whom I am now writ- 
ing lived after the war, they belong more properly 
to the ante-bellum period, when they were in the 
meridian of their powers and at the height of 
tlieir influence in the community. 

One of the most distinguished of our citizens 
was Dr. Richard D. Moore. A native Athenian, 
his entire life was spent among his own people, 
who esteemed him in his boyhood and honored 
him in his mature age. On every question of 
public interest his voice was heard, fearlessly 
declaring his position and actively working for 
the public good, and to his energy and influence 
the L'niversity, of which he was long an active 
Trustee, owes the gift of Moore College by the 
city. But it was in the sick room that Dr. Moore's 



200 

genius shone forth. His manner was so cheer- 
ful, his eye so bright, his smile so assuring, that 
his entry into the room was a tonic to his patient, 
and a visit from such a physician was better 
than medicine. He had the gift of descerning, 
almost at a glance, what was the matter with his 
patients. To illustrate this faculty, Governor Cobb 
used to tell a story of his being summoned sud- 
denly to a man who had been badly hurt by an 
accident. Entering the door he saw the sufferer 
lying on a bed, and at once remarked : "You have 
broken your collar bone." He proceeded to set 
the fracture, and soon left the man tolerably com- 
fortable. This was, of course, an exaggeration, 
but he rarely asked a patient how he felt, forming 
,r his own opinions from his own perceptions. Dr. 
Moore married first a granddaughter of Richard 
Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and afterward Miss McAllister, of 
Savannah, who survived him thirty years. Char- 
itable, refined and courteous, his death was felt 
^^ IL^A^' to be a public calamity, and to very many like 
'^ f='' the loss of a near relative. 

No sketch of Athens would be complete with- 
jv'^ ' out a reference to Mrs. Gully. For years she 

^^ ~ was the only professional beggar in the place, 

and this exclusive privilege she enjoyed until her 
death. Two idiot sons were sent to the asylum. 
Kancy was given in marriage to Stephen Shields, 
and, relieved of the care of her children, she re- 



■ ■^ 



201 



duced begging to a fine art. She always asked 
for flour, declining the offer of meal, because 
corn-bread hurt her teeth. Her taste in sugar was 
refined, and as to sorghum, she wouldn't hear to 
it. Her habitation was this side of the upper 
bridge, but there was no beauty in it that she 
should desire to stay there and she didn't. 

Another character was Joseph Zebenee, a 
Frenchman, better known as "Keno." A butch- 
er by trade, he was ready to take up any other 
profession when requested to do so, and suitably 
rewarded for the exercise of his talents. He 
slaughtered goat, kid and dog, and it all became 
lamb in his skilful hands. He was wont to take 
his meats to the cook, saying her master had or- 
dered it. After it was cooked and eaten the 
master, of course, paid for it. "Keno" stood 
greatly in awe of Betsy, his wife, who did not 
hesitate to whip him when she thought he de- 
served it. When the war began he braved the 
cannon's mouth to escape Betsy's, and did valiant 
service as cook for General Howell Col)b. 

CHAPTER XXn. 

No citizens of Athens were ever more identi- 
fied with her interests that the bTOtiiers Asbury 
and Henry Hull. Coming to the town with their 
father, the Rev. Hope Hull, in its infancy, they 
lived here all their lives, one dying at sixty-eight, 



202 

the other at eighty-three. Asbury Hull was a 
lawyer by profession, but gave the most of his 
time to the administration of business affairs. 
Dignified, calm and impartial, he was called to 
preside at all public meetings of the day, and 
served in the Legislature, both as Speaker of the 
House and President of the Senate. His sincer- 
ity and piety inspired all classes with the utmost 
confidence in the man, and though his opia-on on 
every question was decl?-ed without reserve, no 
word of aught but respect was ever uttered by 
his strongest political opponents. He Vv'as a fluent 
speaker and especially fer\ ent in prayer. Mr. 
Hull was long the Cashier of the State Baak 
here, the President of the Southern Mutual In- 
surance Company and for forty-seven years 
Treasurer of the University. His death, occur- 
ring in 1866, was sudden and painless. He had 
concluded morning prayers with his family. A 
few minutes later his wife went in to call him to 
breakfast, and found him sitting in his chair with 
his Bible in his hands, dead. 

Dr. Henry Hull was a practicing physician for 
ten years, and in the meantime was elected a 
Trustee of the College. In 1829 he was elected 
Professor of Mathematics, when Dr. Church was 
made President, and gave up his profession to 
accept it. He occupied this chair for sixteen 
^ears. and under his instruction some of the most 
prominent men of Georgia passed into public life. 



203 



Dr. Hull was a general favorite with faculty and 
students, and in their difficulties the latter counted 
on his aid and sympathy. In the class-room he 
was accustomed to begin the recitation by calling 
on the student nearest him. One day he unex- 
pectedly called on the occupant of the other end 
of the bench, who said : "Doctor, I did not learn 
that." "And why not?" said the Professor. "Be- 
cause," candidly replied the student, ''I expected 
you would begin at the other end of the bench." 
The Doctor smiled and advised him not to depend 
on that chance in future. During his term of 
office Dr. Hull made the acquaintance of M. 
Nichoai, the French astronomer, who visited at 
his house and with who he became quite intimate. 
They made together many observations, and Dr. 
Hull materially aided the scientist in the objects 
of his visit to Georgia. 

Resigning his chair in 1846, Dr. Hull passed 
the rest of his days in the congenial occupation of 
farming and study. Tall and graceful in bearing, 
dignified, without austerity, with the courtesy 
born with the true gentleman, he attracted alike 
the young and old. He was fond of young peo- 
ple, and his sympathies with their plans and pleas- 
ures drew them to him with love and affection. 
He lived beyond the time allotted to man, enjoy- 
ing excellent health, a typical gentleman of the 
old school, and after a brief illness died where he 



204 



had lived nearly all his life, in the eighty-third 
year of his age. 

Greensby W. Barber — "Wed" Barber, as he 
was universally known — was a rare character. I 
use the word "rare" advisedly. He was a man of 
sterling integrity, with more than his share of 
"horse sense," whatever that may mean. He 
had a keen wit and would perpetrate a joke on 
bis best friend. His house for many years was on 
the hill beyond the upper bridge, and he owned 
all the land between the road and Sandy creek. 
He offered his place once as a large tract of bot- 
tom land, and when an inquirer, finding that it 
was mostly poor hillside, asked an explanation, 
Mr. Barber replied that all the top had been 
v/ashed off and there was nothing left but bot- 
tom. He believed in sand as a remedy for indi- 
gestion. He said that the sand acted mechanical- 
ly and held the victuals down, the tendency of the 
food being to rise up and return to the mouth. 
He declared also that it acted morally ; that dys- 
peptics were "chicken-hearted," and the remedy 
put "sand in the gizzard." and converted coward- 
ly dyspeptics into the bravest heroes. He said 
a teaspoonful of sand after each meal would en- 
able you to digest hickory nuts if you kept it up, 
and would insure peace to every family. 

]\Ir. Barber was born near the famous "Bar- 
ber's Spring," opposite Mr. Linton's, and died in 



205 

Barbersville, in the esteem of the community 
among whom he had spent his entire Hfe. 

Rarely do two such men belong to the same 
town as Howell and Thomas R. R. Cobb. Still 
more rarely to the same family. Dr. Hull, who 
was on intimate terms with their father's family, 
left this sketch of the brothers : 

"The question has often been asked, which was 
the more talented of the two ? One may as well in- 
quire which the greatest genius, a great painter 
or a great philosopher ? There is no unit of meas- 
urement with which to compare them. So of 
these two brothers — their minds were of different 
structure. The Governor controlled men by un- 
equalled management and tact ; the General by 
the irresistible force of argument. The Governor 
was the greater politician, the General the greater 
lawyer. While the wonderful talents of both 
commanded respect, the social qualities, the gen- 
ial bonhomie, the generous open-heartedness of 
the Governor secured your love ; the commanding 
power of intellect prominent in all the General 
said or did excited the admiration. The Governor 
would, in commercial language, look at the sum 
total of an account, without regard to the items, 
or grasp the conclusion of a proposition without 
examining each step of the demonstration. The 
General received nothing as true that could not 
be proved, and submitted every question to the 
crucible of reason before he pronounced their 



206 

absolute truth. I do not speak of their pubhc 
acts, but remember them only as boys, students 
and fellow-citizens. The Governor was generous 
and liberal almost to prodigality. When his fa- 
ther, from a reckless disregard of economy and 
mismanagement of his affairs, had allowed his 
debts to accumulate to an amount w^hich could not 
be paid by the sale of all his property, the Gover- 
nor devoted the whole of a handsome estate (left 
him by his uncle, Howell Cobb, for whom he was 
named) to the liquidation of the remaining liabil- 
ities, so that no man should say that he had beeen 
injured by his father. With a hand open as day 
to melting charity, he 'gave to those who asked of 
him, and from those who would borrow of him 
he turned not away. And many were the cases 
of a princely generosity and charity which were 
never heard of in this world, but were recorded 
elsewhere. The General gave as much, or per- 
haps more, in proportion to his means, than did 
the Governor, but in a different way. His bene- 
factions were governed by the dictates of 
reason than by the impulses of feeling. All plans 
suggested for the promotion of the good of the 
public received his efficient and hearty support. 
He took a lively interest in everything connected 
with the prosperity of the town. University, 
schools and churches. He was the founder of the 
Lucy Cobb Institute, and contributed more of his 
time, influence and monev to insure its success 



207 

than any half-dozen men put together. He was 
prominent in every association of which he was 
a member. A man of the most wonderful versa- 
tility of talent, he would concentrate the power of 
his wonderful mind on the propriety and necessity 
of secession, on some intricate and abstruse point 
of law, on the best manner of conducting a Sun- 
day school or on any subject that men thought of 
and talked about, with equal facility, and as if the 
matter under discussion was the only one he had 
ever studied, and with a rapidity of transition 
from one to another, the most dissimilar, that was 
startling. The patient and long-continued investi- 
gation of the most abstruse subject was pastime 
to him, and after such labor he would meet you 
with a cheerful smile on the brightest face, and 
'crack his jokes' as if he did nothing else all his 
life. He surely was the most remarkable man of 
his day." 

Thomas R. R. Cobb made the first political 
speech of his life before the Georgia Legislature 
in November, i860. The effect of it was what 
we may suppose followed the great peroration of 
Patrick Henry, when he exclaimed : "Give me 
liberty or give me death !" Men went wild with 
enthusiasm, and the speaker was the idol of the 
day. He entered that campaign with the fiery 
zeal of Peter the Hermit, arguing, demanding, 
threatening, entreating by pen and speech, until 
his audiences were won to enthusiasm for seces- 
sion. 



208 



As a soldier he was without fear. In battle he 
was cool and tenacious. General Lee wrote of 
him: "As a patriot and a soldier his death has 
left a gap in the army which his military aptitude 
and skill render it hard to fill." In the battle of 
Fredericksburg his brigade was stationed behind 
the stone wall, the target for six successive at- 
tacks of the Federal army. In an interval of the 
attack General Cobb had dismounted and was 
walking up and down the road, encouraging his 
men, when a piece of shell struck him, severing 
the femoral artery. He lived but a short time, 
and when the news of his death was known in 
Athens there was sorrow in every house and 
tears in every heart. 

Howell Cobb was a genial, warm-hearted, lov- 
able man, loving a good joke, even if it was on 
himself. He would go to extreme lengths to aid 
a friend, and harbored no animosity to an enemy. 
Indeedj he had no enemies, unless political op- 
penents could be called so, and his antagonism 
toward them was against groups rather than in- 
dividuals. 

In 1862 General Cobb — then Colonel — met an 
officer on General McClellan's staff near Rich- 
mond, to agree upon a cartel for exchange of 
prisoners. After business was dispatched they 
engaged in some very pleasant conversation, dur- 
ing which Colonel Cobb said that the two great- 
est calamities which ever befell the human race 



209 

were the fall of Adam and the landing of the 
Alayflower. The officer repeated it to McClellan, 
who enjoyed it immensely. 

General Cobb was very stout — almost Falstaff- 
ian in proportions, and physically was unfitted for 
the activity of military service. It was probably 
due to this fact that he was transferred from the 
\'irg-inia army to Georgia, where the soldier's life 
was not so strenuous. 

After the war General Cobb was disfranchised, 
but joined General Toombs and Benjamin H. Hill 
in advising the people not to accept the recon- 
struction acts of Congress. Their great Bush 
Arbor speeches are a part of Georgia history, in 
which they took the position that the South had 
been conquered, but her people should still main- 
tain their honor by refusing to ratify acts which 
not only were offensive but had been passed while 
they were allowed no part in the legislation. 

In the mountain counties of Georgia the Union 
men had waged a civil war with Confederate 
sympathizers, in which the bushwhacker made 
assassination his occupation. Colonel J. H. Hug- 
gins' house was burned,and he did not dare to 
go back. Colonel Andrew J. Young had hung 
and shot so many men without mercy that his life 
was no longer safe in Georgia. 

When it was arranged that General Cobb 
should speak at Homer, certain parties threatened 
to shoot him if he should gfo. Nevertheless he 



210 



went, but he refused to sleep in any house, and 
permitted no one to sit behind him on the plat- 
form, saying if there was to be any shooting he 
wanted no innocent persons shot. General Cobb 
spoke his mind fearlessly to a great crowd, but 
there was no shooting. 

When on a visit to New York in 1868 General 
Cobb was stricken with heart failure as he was 
ascending the stairs in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, 
and died immediately. , 

CHAPTER XXHI. 

From its earliest days Athens has not suffered 
from want of military ardor. But the first orga- 
nization of which we have any record, not count- 
ing the company of students — the "Franklin 
Blues" — was in 1831, when the Georgia Guards 
was organized, with Nathaniel A. Adams, Cap- 
tain, R. B. Houghton, James C. Edwards and Eli 
K. Clark, Lieutenants. They were uniformed and 
armed in time to celebrate the glorious Fourth in 
great style in the Baptist church, and afterward 
drink it down at Captain Brown's tavern. 

In 1836 a company of men was formed for the 
Seminole war with James Lyon, Captain, and 
William E. Jones, Burton, Hicks and Randolph 
Harden for Lieutenants. 

William E. Jones was the editor of the Athens 
Whig. He was very smart and a warm adherent 



211 

of the Troup party. While a student in college 
Dr. Singleton, a Clark man (the father of Mrs. 
F. W. Lucas), was a candidate for Congress 
from the State at large. About a month before 
the election Jones wrote to the Augusta Sentinel 
a notice of Dr. Singleton's death, and paid a beau- 
tiful tribute to his worth. It was copied in the 
Savannah, Milledgeville, Macon and Columbus 
papers, each adding a word of regret for his un- 
timely death. There being no railroads or tele- 
graph in those days, and only weekly mails, no 
opportunity was afforded to deny the report be- 
fore the election was held, and Dr. Singleton was 
unanimously defeated. Jones sold the Whig to 
his brother and went to Texas. While attending 
a court near the Rio Grande some of Santa 
Anna's pickets crossed over, captured judge, jury 
and lawyers and marched them off to a Mexican 
prison. While they languished there in durance 
vile they devised a plan for escape by tunnelling 
vmder the wall, but were discovered. Their jailer 
was a fat old Mexican of rotund proportions, 
whom the prisoners had dubbed "Gutsy." When 
they were asked who gave them the means to 
work with, Jones promptly replied, "Gutsy." The 
utter amazement and indignation of that individ- 
ual at the unjust charge may be imagined. The 
Mexicans determined to convert them to the 
Catholic faith, and twice a day marched them to 
the Cathedral to hear mass. The incorrigible 



212 



Jones, who had previously primed his compan- 
ions, immediately after prayer gave the command, 
"Single wiggle!" at which every man stood up 
facing the priest, placed his thumb to his nose and 
wiggled his fingers with the utmost gravity. Af- 
ter the second prayer the order, "Double com- 
pound action !" brought all hands to their feet, 
with both hands extended from the nose and fin- 
gers wiggling furiously. After this further mis- 
sionary work was abandoned. 

The Georgia Brigade was commanded by Gen. 
Burwell Pope. A dinner was given the General 
and his staff on leaving for the seat of war, at 
Mr. Hancock's "Planters' Hotel," at which a hun- 
dred guests were seated and toasts were drunk 
in "Georgia wine." The College company, Capt. 
Benj. C. Yancey, escorted the volunteers across 
the river and fired a salute on parting from them. 

In 1840 another company was formed the 
name of which does not appear. W. B. Wells 
beat Ben Perley Poore for Captain. John S. 
Linton was made ist Lieutenant, Dr. William 
Bacon, 2nd Lieutenant, and Thos. M . ]\1 en- 
weather, Ensign. This company was mustered 
into the State militia. 

Ben Perley Poore was sent to Georgia from 
Massachusetts by his father to grow up with the 
country. He came to Athens and purchased 
and edited the Southern Whig. A man of ed- 
ucation and refinement, he was admitted to the 



213 



best society of the town, and became fairly popu- 
lar with the citizens. Poore, after awhile, began 
to exhibit ' abolition tendencies, and his intimacy 
with negroes caused him to be ostracised. He 
gave an entertainment at his house, to which he 
invited some negroes. This even more than now 
was an unpardonable sin, and hints of tar and 
feathers were heard. Mindful that discretion is 
the better part of valor he returned to his native 
state, where he was next heard from as trundling 
a wheelbarrow from Newburyport to Boston in 
payment of a lost wager on Fillmore's election. 
Poore afterwards was Paris correspondent of 
the Boston papers, then Librarian of Congress, 
and was during the war a well-known newspaper 
correspondent at Washington, but it is said 
would never speak of his early sojourn at the 
South. 

In 1845 the "Clarke Cavalry" was organized 
for the Mexican war, with William E. Bearing 
Captain, Henry Hull, ist Lieut., William H. 
Crawford 2nd Lieut., James Colt, Cornet. The 
company w^as armed and equipped, but their ser- 
vices were not accepted by the government. 

I do not know in what way our young men 
worked off their thirst for war until 1854, but 
in that year the Athens Guards was organized 
with the following officers: Captain, C. B. Lom- 
bard; 1st Lieut, Miller Grieve; 2nd Lieut, Ha- 
bersham J. Adams; Ensign, Wm. G. Deloney; 



214 



1st Sgt., John C. Turner; 2nd Sgt., Edward P. 
Lumpkin ; 3rd Sgt., Thomas U. Camak ; 4th Sgt.. 
Wm. J. Morton. The Guards were the pets of 
the town, and dressed in their uniforms of bkie 
coats with red trimmings, white trousers and 
pkunes of red and white, paraded the streets on 
all public occasions, keeping step to Asa Cobb's 
fife and Wilson Hull's bass drum, and preceded 
by old man Bridges as a self-appointed Drum- 
Major, with an escort of little negroes and boys. 
Captain^ Lombard was an accomplished dentist 
and a genial man. He was a fine officer, a tall, 
handsome soldierly man, but drink ruined him 
and finally, a pensioner upon his friends, he met 
a drunkard's death. 

A few years later, in 1859, the "National Ar- 
tillery" was organized by Capt. Frank Hill, 
known in after years as the "Troup Artillery." 
Both these companies did gallant service in the 
war. 

A. A. Franklin Hill was a familiar figure in 
Athens. After leaving college he studied medi- 
cine and served as surgeon in the navy. Then 
he read law and essayed planting. Coming back 
to Athens he edited the Southern Banner until 
the beginning of the war. Col. Hill was interest- 
ed in everything that was going on. He was 
Captain of the Fire Company, belonged to the 
Guards, organized the Artillery, chaperoned 
picnics, lead the dances- anl filled a large place 



215 



':i the social life of the town. He wore his hair 
'ong and parted in the middle and his beard long 
and pointed ; in fact he \vas distinguished by 
having the longest beard of any man in town. 
He was a great beau in society and a very gen^- 
eral favorite. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

As early as 1850 the propaganda of abolition 
of slavery began to arouse the antagonism of the 
Athenians, but the cloud seemed a long way off 
and the muttering of the thunder was very faint, 
and we did not worry much over it. But when 
the Republicans, as the Free Soil Party called 
themselves, put out a candidate for President 
it became interesting, and when the Democratic 
Convention split at Charleston it became acute. 
It was then evident to thinking men that the 
Abolitionists would elect their candidate. In 
that event what should the South do? It was 
this question which produced a conflagration 
that swept the country and stirred Athens from 
center to circumstance. Leading Democrats 
openly declared there could be no other course 
but to secede from the Union. Conservative 
Whigs hoped for an adjustment which would 
preserve the Union and in the hearts of all there 
lurked the hope that Lincoln would be defeated. 

When the telegraph announced the certainty of 



216 

Abraham Lincoln's election there was intense 
excitement in Athens. A mass meeting was held 
in which all parties united and Mr. T. R. R. 
Cobb made a stirring address in which he first 
declared for secession. Before this Mr. Cobb 
had taken no part in politics but had assiduously- 
addressed himself to the practice of law. But 
from now on all his energies were devoted to the 
salvation of the South from what he believed to 
b(j the destruction of all her liberties and to the 
preservation of her independence. 

Travel then was comparatively slow, the mails 
M^ere irregular, the telegraph uncertain. Every 
passenger brought news from the North. Rumors 
of impossible conditions were rife and were re- 
peated from mouth to mouth and with every re- 
petition gained in sensation. Strangers were 
looked upon with suspicion. Northerners were 
looked at askance and spies were talked of and 
spotted here and there. A man living about four 
miles from town promulgated his free soil sen- 
timents for which he was arrested and tried in 
the Town Hall by the citizens before Intendant 
Lyle. The prisoner badly frightened, declared 
he didn't know it was any harm, recanted his 
opinions, and was released. Meetings were held 
almost daily and groups of men gathered on the 
streets to discuss the news. The Legislature 
was in session and by invitation Mr. Thos. R. R. 
Cobb addressed the members on the situation. 



217 



That speech was one that Hves in the history of 
the State. His voice was for immediate seces- 
sion. 

After enforcing his reasons with all the logic 
at his command he closed with these words : "On 
the night of the sixth of November I called my 
wife and little ones together around my family 
altar and together we prayed to God to stay the 
wrath of our oppressors and preserve the Union 
of our fathers. The rising sun of the seventh of 
November found me on my knees begging the 
same kind father to make that wrath to praise 
him and the remainder of wrath to restrain. I 
believe that the hearts of men are in His hands, 
and when the telegraph announced to me that the 
voice of the North proclaimed at the ballot box 
that I should be a slave, I heard in the same 
sound the voice of my God speaking through his 
providence and saying to his child, "Be free ! 
Be free!" The effect upon his audience was in- 
describable. Men went wild with enthusiasm 
and from that hour it was determined that Geor- 
gia should no longer remain in the Union of 
States. Soon after this Hon. Howell Cobb re- 
signed the office of Secretary of the Treasury, 
under President Buchanan and came home. 

The Legislature called a convention of the 
State to which Asbury Hull, Thos. R. R. Cobb 
and Jefferson Jennings were elected delegates 
from Clarke County. In the meantime news 



218 



was received of the secession of South Carohna 
which produced the greatest enthusiasm. The 
event was celebrated by a great torchUght pro- 
cession in which a thousand men took part. Seces- 
sionists were known by the blue cockade, and 
every day added to their ranks. In anticipation 
of troublous times the Troup Artillery offered 
their services to the Governor. Conservative 
Union men were powerless in this gathering 
storm, and felt their helplessness in the face of 
increasing excitement. 

The Convention met in Milledgeville and a 
great debate ensued. Mr. Stephens made what 
has been considered the greatest speech of his 
life against secession. Ben Hill threw all the 
eloquence of a great orator into an appeal for 
the preservation of the Union. But if any speech 
was needed to confirm the determination of the 
Convention it was the impassioned utterance of 
Thos. R. R. Cobb, urging and entreating and de- 
manding by turns that Georgia and her children 
should be free. On January 19th, 1861, the Con- 
vention passed the Ordinance of Secession. With 
the solemnity which characterized the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, but with no fear 
for the future, each delegate signed his name 
with a new pen. 

When the news was received in Athens, the 
Troup Artillery fired a salute of a hundred guns. 
A great unrest pervaded the community ; nobodv 



219 



knew exactly what to expect. Some predicted 
war, others scouted the idea. The declarations 
of Mr. Lincoln were pacific, and yet the people 
began to gather themselves together, and the 
military companies began to drill and furbish 
up their arms. The ladies made a flag for the 
Athens Guards, which was delivered by Dr. Lip- 
scomb in an eloc[uent speech, and another flag 
was presented to the Troup Artillery. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The seceding states called a Congress to meet 
in Montgomery, Alabama, for the purpose of 
organizing a new Confederacy upon the lines of 
the old Union. In the appointment of delegates 
to this Provisional Congress to which Georgia 
sent ten, two Athenians were selected, Howell 
and Thos. R. R. Cobb. Another, Benj. H. Hill, 
had married an Athens girl and after the war 
became a citizen of the place. Of the remain- 
ing seven , five, Toombs, Stephens, Wright, Bar- 
tow and Nisbet had been students at the Univer- 
sity and imbibed its spirit with their coming 
manhood. What city then can claim with equal 
reason so commanding an influence in the for- 
mation of the Confederate States as Athens ? 

At that Congress Howell Cobb was made 
President, and next to Mr. Davis was the choice 
of the Congress for President of the new Con- 
federacy. 



220 

During the session of the Congress and in- 
deed during the whole intervening time until 
the battle of Fredericksburg not a day elapsed 
without Thomas R. R. Cobb writing to his wife. 
In these letters he spake what was in his heart 
as he would have done in the privacy of his 
chamber with no thought that other eyes than 
hers would see them. They are therefore of 
the greatest value in depicting the history of 
those times as he saw it. 

To show the belief of the best informed pub- 
lic men of that day we quote "The chances are 
decidedly aaginst war. There may be a little 
collision and much confusion, but no bloody or 
extensive war. The action of Virginia decides 
the question. Peace is certain on her secession ;" 
and this, "Gwynn of California wires that Sew- 
ard told him there would be no war ;" and as 
late as April 19th, "many are of the decided 
opinion that there will be no war. Howell in- 
sists that this is the true view of the matter.'" 
And yet, the military ardor of the South was 
never so high. Companies were organizing 
everywhere. Men of wealth were equipping 
companies and arming regiments out of their 
own pockets. Governor Brown was besieged 
with tenders for military service. Officers had 
resigned from the old Army and Navy on the 
secession of their States and offered their ser- 
vices to President Davis. Although there had 



221 



been no declaration of war, every preparation 
was being made for war. 

Congress adopted the flag of the Confederacy 
in March and Hope Fire Company raised over 
their engine house in Washington street, the first 
one that flung its folds to an Athens breeze. The 
same afternoon the Southern Banner raised an- 
other over its office on Webb & Crawford's cor- 
ner, which was saluted by the Troup Artillery 
in proper form. 

With the fall of Fort Sumter everyone pre- 
pared for w^ar. Ladies were busy making 
clothes,, knitting socks, gloves, wristlets and com- 
forters for the soldiers to take with them. Oil 
skin havelocks, needle cases, pin cushions, combs 
and pocket looking glasses were much sought 
after. The State of Georgia, through Adjutant 
General Henry C. Wayne announced that if 
would furnish soldiers "one coat, two handker- 
chiefs, two pairs pants, one black necktie, one 
cap, two flannel shirts, two pairs drawers, three 
pairs socks, one pocket knife, one tin cup, one 
spoon, one knife, one fork, two pairs boots, and 
one flannel band to tie around the stomach when 
exposed to the damp." What a pathetic con- 
trast that soldier presented four years later, toil- 
ing along through rain and snow, barefooted, 
and in rags that barely covered his nakedness, 
but with the courage and hardiness, that made 
him the admiration of the world ! At the State 



222 



Bank in Athens subscriptions to the Confederate 
loan were opened and $25,250 were taken. The 
first Confederate bond sold for 120, while the 
first United States bonds were taken at 93.5. 
However, these prices were not maintained. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

On April 24th the Troup Artillery left to go 

into camp at Savannah with seventy-four men: 

Captain, Marcellus Stanley ; ist Lieut., Henry 
H. Carlton; 2nd Lieut., A. F. Pope; 3rd Lieut., 
Edward P. Lumpkin; Ensign, Pope Barrow; ist 
Sgt., Geo. J. Newton; 2nd Sgt., C. W. Motes; 
3rd Sgt., George A. Homer; 4th Sgt., R. H. 
Pridgeon ; 5th Sgt.. H. B. Swann ; ist Corp., Lee 
M. Lyle; 2nd Corp., L. C. Cooper; 3rd Corp., 
Thos. F. Baker ; 4th Corp.. Wm. H. Jones. 

Privates, Sam'l T. Aaron. Geo. B. Atkisson, 
Jos. A. Blackman, Thos. A. Barrow, Geo. P. Ben- 
nett, Rich'd G. Bearden, John AL Bostwick, 
James M. Brow^n, Benj. Culp, Robert Childers, 
Bart. R. Cain, Hedges Conger, Howell Cobb, 
Hinton C. Dillard, James F. Dillard, Robert F. 
Dorsey, A. S. Dorsey, John C. Deavours, Wm. 
PL Dicken, John W. Edwards, Elijah T. Eng- 
land. L. D. Furgusson, John O'Farrell, Robert 
Flournoy, Joseph H. L. Gerdine, John J. Griff- 
eth, Wm. A. Hemphill, John H. Hughes, Jas. 
M. A. Jackson, Chas. M. Lumpkin, Frank Lump- 
kin, Absalom E. Lee, H. L. Mullins, E. M. 



223 



Alaxcy, David ]\IcDonald, John J. McConnell, 
Wm. P. Mealor, Isaac S. Moon, Robert Moore, 
PI. D. Muller, John F. Murray, Thos. A. Murray, 
Jas. A. Moore, Almon L. Nance, x\ug-. C. Pat- 
man, J. E. Pittman, John A. Parks, John H. Pat- 
rick, E. W. Porter, Anderson W. Reese, E. Rich- 
ardson, James Pledger, James T. Sansom, T. H. 
Shaw, Jas. C. Strickland, Ben. P. Taylor, O. 
A'incent, John O. Waddell, Grant Wilkins. 
George C. Williams, Thos. D. Williams, Henry 
F. Winn. 

The company was escorted to the Georgia Rail- 
road by the Athens Guards, Oconee Cavalry and 
the Fire Companies. At the depot then on the 
hill across the river two thousand citizens had 
assembled to say goodbye, and Chancellor Lips- 
comb addressed the departing company with 
characteristic eloquence and in a strain of the 
highest patriotism. 

After a brief service at Tybee, where they 
found nothing worse than sand flies to fight, 
Troup Artillery was ordered to Virginia and 
f'jrmed part of Cobb's Legion at Yorktowu. 
Afterwards being detached from the Legion 
they were sent to West Virginia. Captain Stan- 
ley resigned in 1862 and Lieut. Carlton was 
elected Captain. 

Troup Artillery was known as Carlton's Bat- 
tery later in the war, since Captain Carlton com- 
manded it from 1862 to the surrender at Ap[)o- 



224 

mattox. It was attached to Cabell's Battalion. 
Longstreet's Corps. It participated in nearly all 
the severest battles in Virginia. In the West 
Virginia campaign, where they saw their first 
real service, the men suffered terribly. They 
were at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancel - 
lorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spottsyl- 
vania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. 

First and last there were 267 men enrolled in 
Troup Artillery. Of these Lieut. Motes, George 
Atkisson, Joe Gerdine, W. H. Jones, John O. 
Waddell, W. J. Pittman were wounded and Ben 
Carlton' killed at Sharpsburg. 

At Cramp ton's Gap J. J. Kenney was killed 
and John Waddell wounded. 

At Fredericksburg Capt. Carlton, T. M. 
Plughes, T. S. Aaron, William Jennings, T. S. 
Richards, Marion Stovall, were wounded and T. 
E. Dillard killed. 

At Gettysburg Capt. Carlton, Lieut. Henry 
Jennings, W. A. Hemphill and W. E. Biggers 
were wounded, Richard Moore and J. H. Adams 
killed. 

At Spottsylvania Lieut. T. A. Murray, J. H. 
Belcher, Hedges Conger, G. P. Bennett, T. M. 
Hughes, J. W. Ledbetter, John Lilly were 
wounded, Absalom Lee and Elisha Porter, killed. 
W. P. Mealor lost a leg at Dam No. i and H. 
Murphy was killed there. 



225 



The fatalities from camp diseases were no 
fewer. In 1861 the deaths were B. W. Cain. 
Champ Conelly, F. Miller, Harrison Thurmond, 
J A. Parks. In 1862 J. C. Ayres, Willie Billups, 
Jas. M. Bone, E. M. Butler, J. L. Butler, Jos. L. 
Dillard, R. O. Hale, Alsa Huggins, Geo. Jen- 
nings, S. D. Jennings, J. J. Johnson, M. McLain, 
Zach Sikes, Richard Sikes, R. J. Tuck and J. C. 
Tuck. In 1863 Lieut. Geo. Newton, J. M. 
Brown, T. S. Aaron, William Cooper, J. C. Dea- 
vors, W. H. Lee, J. A. Moore, P. N. Neese, R. 
B Richardson, J. M. Sikes, and in 1864 J. W. 
Echols, J. W. Harris, Jesse Palmer, W. H. 
Stapler, J. W. Stephenson and H. C. Dillard. 

In addition to those who went out with this 
famous battery and who escaped to survive the 
war were Steve and Willie Bearing, Paddy Ware, 
Andrew Lamar, Sid Franklin, Robert Hemphill, 
W. F. Brittain, Bob Brittain, Joe Barry, W. F. 
Crane, J. R. Crane, Jim Frierson and others be- 
sides whom I cannot now recall. 

A few days after the Troup Artillery left 
Athens, the Tugalo Blues from Franklin County 
and after them the famous Banks County Guards, 
clad in gray jeans and armed with squirrel rifles 
passed through on their way to the camps. They 
were met at the upper bridge with great enthu- 
siasm and escorted to the depot with military 
honors. 



226 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

On April 29th, the Athens Guards left for Vir- 
ginia, with the following roll of men : 

Captain, Henry C. Billups; ist. Lieut.; Tho- 
mas AI. Daniel; 2nd Lieut., David L. Langston ; 
Ensign, George E. Hayes; ist. Sgt. George A. 
Carlton; 2nd Sgt., A.'M. Wyng;3d. Sgt., A. 
S Mandeville; 4th Sgt. Samuel L. Alexander; 
5th. Sgt. John S. Williford; ist Corp., Richard 
H. Hughes ; 2d. Corp., Robert A. Whitman ; 3d. 
Corp., R. M. McAlpin ; 4th Corp., H. M. Delacy. 
Privates. 

H. M. Aiken, R. A. Bristol, Willis Bone, Will- 
iam Bone, Dave H. Bailey, W. Bearden, J. L. 
Buford, J. B. Burpee, Mike J. Clancey, J. S. 
Colbert, W. H. Culberson, Charley Dean, Reuben 
T. Durham, Geo. C. Daniel, Thos. H. Frierson, 
Geo. S. Graham, Stump Greer, John W. Gille- 
land, H. M. Gilleland, Sam Hayes, P. W. Hayes, 
John Harris, Sid Hughes, L W. Hallam, J. R. 
Ivy, J. J. Karnes. W. D. Luckie, W. R. Lambert. 
Wm. Ledbetter, Thos Ledbetter, Miller G. 
Lumpkin, C. P. McAllister, Jos. H. McCleskey, 
R. P. McWhorter, W. H. Morton, C. W. Murray, 
John P. Mason, Daniel McKenzie, Thos. G. Ma- 
con, P. M. Neese, J. W. Nabers, J. J. Parr, Geo. 
H. Palmer, G. R. Porter, G. W. Ramey, R. K 
Reaves, S. M. Stark, A. C. Smith, M. G. Sim- 
mons, J. J. Sims, E. C. Thomas, Jas. D. Thomas, 



227 



John W. Tenney, S. Fisher Tenney, J. T. Thur- 
mond, A. A. Winn, Geo. D. Whitman, D. P. Will- 
iams, W. H. Vincent. 

Other recruits during the war brought the total 
enrollment up to 140. 

The Athens Guards was known as Co. K., 3d 
Georgia Regiment, Wright's Brigade, Hill's 
Corps. The history of the Company shows some 
hot fighting and heavy casualties. Their first 
engagement was on Roanoke Island where they 
defeated an Indiana regiment which they were 
destined to face in battle on two other occasions. 

Capt. Billups was promoted to Lieut. Colonel 
and Lieut Daniel resigned. Lieut. David B. 
Langston became Captain and commanded the 
Company all through the war. In the battle of 
Malvern Hill, C. P. McAllister, Jno. W. Nabers, 
J. H. Dunahoo, Jack Sims, Noah C. Strickland 
were wounded and W. L. Griffeth and Joe Mc- 
Cleskey killed. 

At Second Manassas F. M. Doster was killed 
and Daniel McKenzie, W. H. Morton, and Wm. 
A. Wright, now Comptroller General of Georgia 
were wounded. 

At Sharpsburg David A. Bailey, Jim Dorsey, 
J. H. Reaves, S. F. Tenney, Adolphus Wam- 
aling and A. A. Winn were wounded, and 
George Graham and Walter Perry killed. 

At Chancellorsville, Capt. Langston, W. W. 



228 



Cook, Stump Greer and Jack Sims, were 
wounded. 

At Gettysburg, S. M. Barber and George Por- 
ter, were wounded. Tom Frierson was wounded 
and captured. W. A. Wright was wounded again 
and captured. C. W. Dean, J. E. Dickson, M. B. 
Locklin, Dave Moncrief, and Xoah Strick- 
land were killed. W. S. Griffeth was killed at 
Fredericksburg. 

Geo. E. Griffeth, Geo. H. Palmer, J. W. What- 
ley were wounded at Spottsylvania and W. H. 
Jackson, C. A. Barber and R. A. Bristol, killed. 

At the Crater at Petersburg Lieut. George E. 
Hayes — then Major of the 3d Georgia — ^William 
Nabers, Zach Nabers, and Sam Reynolds, were 
killed, Lieut. Dalton Mitchell, W. L. P.arber, 
Robert Dougherty, James O'Farrell, C. W. Rey- 
nolds, Rich Robertson, A. C. Smith and W. A. 
Sims were wounded, F. W. Hazelhurst was cap- 
tured. 

Before Richmond T. W. Long and Trevor 
Rice were wounded. F.M. Chandler was captured 
at Deep Bottom, J. G. Evans was wounded at 
Hatcher's Run and J. R. Barber, W. H. Bearden, 
William Bone, Sam Flayes, H. G. Cook, Geo. 
C. Daniel, J. S. Durham. A. W. Thornton, S. B. 
Haygood, A. L. Mitchell, D. E. Sims, H. J. Sim- 
mons were wounded but in which battles is not 
now recalled. 

Twenty-one members of the Guards died in 



229 

service from diseases — J. D. Chandler, David 
C. Cook, W. F. Cook, Elijah Craft, P. W. Hayes, 
Irving Hinesly, J. J. Karnes, Zero Kitchens, 
Charley Lucas, J. B. Mason, C. W. Murray, W. 
> A. Raines, I. K. Strickland, J. W. Tenney, John 
Thurmond, F. Thurmond, T. M. Tuck, W. T. 
Walker and G. A. Witt. 

On May 29th the Clarke County Rifles left, un- 
der the following officers : 

Captain — Isaac S. Vincent,; ist Lieut. — J. W. 
Hendon, 2nd Lieut. — J. J. McRee, 3rd Lieut. — 
F. Crenshaw; ist Sgt. — J. P. Cheney; 2d Sgt — 
Lindsay Durham; 3d Sgt — J. H. Reaves; 4th 
Sgt. — Sanford Whitehead; ist Corp. — Arthur M. 
Jackson ; 2d Corp. — J. N. Ridgeway ; 3d Corp. — 
Wm. A. Elder ; 4th Corp.— H. P. Fullilove. 

Captain Vincent was taken ill before going in- 
to camp and died in Raleigh. The company was 
assigned to the 3d Georgia Regiment and fought 
side by side with the Athens Guards throughout 
the war under Captain McRee. 

The casualties in this Company were as fol- 
k'ws : 

At Malvern Hill Lieut. Crenshaw, Jos. C.Elder. 
Zach Jackson and Thomas Wright were killed 
S. D- Hardigree, J. T. Launius and E. E. Carter 
wounded. A. Millican was wounded and T. G. 
Redmond killed at Second Manassas. 

At Sharpsburg William Fullilove, H. P. Fulli- 
love, David M. Elder were killed and I. L. Hen- 



230 



son, W. P. Hendon, J. S. Jones, Thos. B. Middle- 
brooks, W. H. Rutledge wounded. 

W. F. Turnell, J. T. Turnell, J. S. Hale, J. P. 
Millican, were wounded at Chancellorsville and 
Warren Carter. Willis Fullilove killed. 

William Loring was killed at Sawyers Lane. 
J. W. Bradberry. Jno. H. Elder, Asa M. Jackson 
were wounded and F. G. Elbin, J. W. Hardigree, 
killed in the battles around Richmond. Jeff Delay 
was wounded at Hatcher's Run. 

At Gettysburg G. H. Blair was wounded and 
captured and so was Asbury Cooper who died in 
prison. J. H. Donahoo, W. Joe Elder, W. P. 
Epps. Jno. H. Giles, W. H. Hale, A. M. Maxcy 
were wounded and John Hardigree, J. S. Hardi- 
gree, F. J. Hill, were killed. 

At Spottsylvania S. Allen, W. S. Anderson 
were killed, and A. B. Delay, Thos Davenport, D. 
E. Elder, V. Allen and John Simpson wounded. 

At Petersburg Capt. McRee was killed and 
William Eades, James Nowell, W. C. Nunnally, 
¥. H. Stewart, Lindsey Wilson, also, while J. AI. 
Allgood, S. D. Hardigree, John J. Giles. Dawson 
Elder, J. P. McRee, William Nowell, J. W. 
Turnell and W. C. Wood were wounded. 

James Carter was killed at Fredericksburg, J. 
W. Allgood was severely wounded three times. 
Richard S. Jones was wounded at Yellow Tav- 
ern. Hatchers' Run and Sharpsburg, and cap- 
tured in the last. 



231 



John Peeler was wounded at the Wilderness, 
Dave Stephens at Cold Harbor, Jacob Benger, 
Tony Daggert. A. Elder, D. S. Elder, William 
Jones, J. L. LeCroy, C. W. Little, Elijah, John 
and Stearns Mauldin, N. Plunkett, S. M. Stark, 
H. J. Thomas in other battles. 

Those who died in service were : I. Daniel, 
George and Thomas Daggert, Silas East, David 
G. Elder. David H. Edward, A. and Edward D. 
Griffeth, W. H. Lowe, William Middlebrooks. 
j. F. Ragsdale, T. J. Robertson, William Spencer, 
James Ward, Fleming and Weldon W^ise. 

Clarke Rifles enrolled 150 men during the war, 
a small remnant of whom were surrendered at 
Appomattox. 

CHAPTER XXVHL 

The Georgia Troopers, a cavalry company, was 
next organized, and left July i6th, 1861, to join 
Cobb's Legion, composed of the following officers 
and men : 

Captain, William G. Deloney ; 1st Lieut., James 
R. Lyle; 2nd Lieut., Thomas C. Williams; 3rd 
Lieut., Jerry E. Ritch. 

In the Ranks — Stephen Arnold, Thomas J. 
Ash, A. Baker, Cicero Brooks, Thomas Brooks, 
Alonzo Brooks, Jno. H. Bulloch, Green Chandler, 
D.P. Camp, N. B. Cash, Thos. J. Dunnahoo, 
Stephen T. Dent, Aleck T. Dent, Henry Dough- 



232 

erty, Wm. Davis, Jas. A. Epps, A. F. Hardy, 
Geo. Harper, W. C. Hood, J. P. Hill, S. W. Hill, 
Moses Hill, Jas. T. House, Frank R. Howard, 
S. E. Jackson, E. C. Lay, G. W. McElhannon, 
M. C. Martin, J. B. O'Shields, H. P. Park, Oliver 
H. Prince, Isham H. Pittard, Jno. C. Rutherford, 
Q. H. Smith, T. A. Smith, W. H. Simpkins, 
M. S. Simmons, W. B. Tuck, J. I. Tuck, T. J. 
Shackleford, J. N. Pinson, Jno. Hewett, J. C. 
Oliver, S- B. Weir, Hoyt Weir, Phillip Wray, 
Walter Wray, J. C. Welborn, Burwell H. Yerby, 
W. J. Matthews, Wm. Nabers, T. J. Moon. 

Captain Deloney was promoted to Lieut. Colo- 
nel, Lieut. Lyle resigned, Lieut. Williams was 
made Captain, Lieut. Ritch after a year returned 
home and raised another company which he com- 
manded throughout the war. 

The Georgia Troopers was an integral part of 
Cobb's Legion but was later detached just as 
the Troup Artillery was and belonged to Hamp- 
ton's Cavalry, but the men insisted on retaining 
the name of "Cobb's Legion Cavalry." They 
enrolled first and last i68 men. 

Of these, A. Bruce, W. F. Early and E. S. 
House were killed at Hanover C. H. ; R. Barrett, 
Thos. House, Adjutant J. Frank Jones and N. C. 
Strickland at Gettysburg ; H. P. Parks at Jack's 
Shop; Lt. Col. Barrington King at Fayetteville, 
N. C. ; J. W. Daniel in a skirmish. 

Col. Deloney was wounded at Jack's Shop, 



233 



captured and died in Old Capitol Prison in Wash- 
ington. Capt. Ritch, W. Bryant, R. J. Hancock- 
were wounded at Brandy Station ; W. H. Early 
and F. W. Walter at Dispatch Station; C. R. 
Harris and J. W. Daniel at Gettysburg; J. H. 
Abercrombie, W. C. Howard at Reams Station ; 
W. C. Orr at Deep Bottom ; T. R. Tuck at Wil- 
derness; Marcus D. L. Pittman at Culpepper. 

Bryant, McCurry and S. S. Parks were cap- 
tured and died in prison. R. L. Nash, D. O. 
Conner, J. C. Oliver were captured and M. An- 
derson, N. Anderson, F. Chandler, E. W., J. M. 
and S. D. Cowan, A. B. Dinsmore, W. Hilton, 
John Hill, M. Hill, W. H. Poss, W. Pinson. 
James and Robert Tuck died of disease. 

Capt. Ritch's company was also of "Cobb's 
Legion Cavalry." Isham H. Pittard was ist 
Lieut, and was captured at Ely's Ford. T. J. 
Smith was 2nd Lieut. 

C. C. Brooke, 3rd Lieut., was killed at Gettys- 
burg. Lieut. Tom Dunnahoo was killed at 
Reams Station, A. C. Baker, L. W. Barrett at 
Gettysburg; B. H. Carter, A. F. Hardy and K. 
C. Weir at Brandy Station; T. H. Brown at the 
Wilderness ; J. A. Alexander, J. A. Epps, H. 
Simmons, E. J. Wilson were wounded, and T. F. 
Todd (living still in Athens) was wounded 
eight times ; George McElhannon and W. B. 
Tuck and E. J. Wilson died in service. 

This company enrolled 147 men. 



234 



Next in order of time after Deloney's Com- 
pany came the Mell Rifles, which Dr. P. H. Mell 
had raised for enHstment, but domestic affliction 
detaining him at home, he resigned the command 
to Capt. Thomas U. Camak. 

This company was attached to Cobb's Legion 
and was known as Camak's Company. The 
following is its muster roll on leaving for Vir- 
ginia : 

Captain, Thos. U. Camak; ist Lieut., John B. 
Cobb ; 2nd Lieut., Robert H. Goodman ; 3rd 
Lieut., Richard J. Wilson; ist Sgt., James F. 
Wilson; 2nd Sgt., William A. Winn; 3rd Sgt., 
William A. Gilleland ; 4th Sgt., Samuel P. Ken- 
ney; ist Cor., G. W. Barber; 2nd Cor., J. F. 
Mattox ; 3rd Cor., Benjamin Mell ; 4th Cor., 
L H. House. 

Privates — E. J. Aiken, — Abbott, A. Adair, 
L J. Barrett, J. L. Barrett, W. J. Brittain, B. L. 
Butler, Thos. Butler, Jack Benton, Wm. Brad- 
berry, Jud Bird, Wm. Crow, W. T. Carter, Jos. 
Cook, H. Cook, C. D. Cook, Simeon Crow, E. 
Croft, M. B. Caldwell, H. J. Childers, Jno. Dos- 
ter, W. T. Delay, Joel Dean, F. Doster, Jack 
Edwards, G. C. Fitzpatrick, H. H. Freeman, 
Cody Fowler, J. W. Gilleland, J. G. Gray, J. S. 
House, A. G. Haygood, G. T. Highland, Sam 
Hudson, J. T. Hale, T. Ivey, J. R. Johnson, 
J. W. Johnston, J. O. Jarrett. Whitson Jarrett, 
\v. H. Kirkpatrick. J. F. Kenney, W. H. Led- 



235 



better, Thos. Ledbetter, Lucas H. Lampkin, J. 
LeSeur, J. C. Mattox, J. F. Moon, W. L. Martin, 
Thos. Mabry, James C. Newton, Alonzo C. New- 
ton, Q. L. Nabers, E. Ntmn, T. Nunn, W. D. 
Payne, C. H. Payne, W. P. Pittman, Jno. Park, 
J. H. Smith, M. B. Smith, J. M. Smith, W. 
Stapler, Henry Sims, B. Spinks, Jas. Sikes, A. F. 
Tolbert, W. O. Tolbert, F. Tiller, T. H. White, 
N. F. White, W. J. Wilson, Jas. W. White. 

This company's first engagement was at 
Crampton's Gap, where as part of Cobb's Bri- 
gade they suffered heavy losses. In this battle 
the wounded were Capt- Camak, S. P. Kenney. 
M. B. Caldwell, Henry Childers, A. F. Tolbert, 
and the killed were Ben Mell, M. Cody, Cody 
Fowler, J. E. Croft, A. G. Haygood, G. T. High- 
tc'wer, J. F. Kenney, J. McHarmon and Burwell 
Yerby. 

At Chancellorsville, Lieut. Gilleland lost an 
arm, J. Benton, W. S. Martin, John Parks and 
Lieut. Dick Wilson were wounded. E. J. Aiken, 
W. T. Delay, T. Ledbetter, Zach L. Xabors, J. P. 
Ridling were killed. G. W. Freeman was killed 
at Sharpsburg. 

At Gettysburg, Capt. Camak and Frank Tiller 
were killed and J. T. Mattox and W. T. Carter 
wounded. 

At the Wilderness, J. S. House, J, O. Jarret<. 
E. Nunn and E. Sharpe were killed. 

At Spottsylvania, Joel Dean, W. D. Pavne 



236 

were wounded and J. Edwards killed. W. J. 
Brittain and W. H. Kirkpatrick were captured 
at Fisher's Hill and died in prison. B. L. Butler 
and F. H. White were killed at Horseshoe. 

W- H. Ledbetter was killed at Chickamauga. 

At Knoxville, Capt. W. A. \Ymn, Thos. Butler 
G. C. Fitzpatrick were killed and Lieut. James 
F. Wilson and A. Adair wounded. W. Stapler, 
Ji., and W. Suddeth were killed and J. H. House 
and John W. Gilleland captured. Jerry G. Gray 
was captured at Front Royal. 

I. J. Barrett, J. Benedict, J. Cook, J. Doster, 
H. H. Freeman, J. C. Glower, J. LeSeur, W. 
Ledbetter, Alonzo C. Newton, W. Nix, T. Nunn, 
James Sikes, N. Thornton, G. Tiller, J. Sweeney, 
W. A. Sims, J. A., J. H. and J. M. Smith, W. 
Stapler, Sr., W. Williams and W. J, Wilson all 
died in hospital. 

This company enrolled 134 men. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Perhaps no company in the army saw harder 
fighting than the Johnson Guards, commanded 
by Capt. Samuel P. Lumpkin and attached to 
the 44th Ga. Regiment, Doles Brigade. 

Its officers were Sam. P. Lumpkin, Captain ; 
W. B. Haygood, ist Lieut.; Asbury H. Jackson, 
2nd Lieut. ; J. W. Reas^es 3rd Licnt. It enrolled 
145 men. 



237 

Its li.-ts of battles co^r.prisc? everyone that was 
fought after their arri\al in Virginia. Its list 
of casualties is so great that I hesitate to write 
it down. Of its officers, Capt. Lumpkin was 
promoted to Colonel, and was mortally wounded 
at Gettysburg. Captain Haygood was wounded at 
Sharpsburg, lost an arm at Gettysburg, and was 
captured. Lieut. Reaves was killed at Gaines' 
Mill. Lieut. N. B. Durham was wounded at 
Chancellorsville and captured at Spottsylvania ; 
Lieut- W. C. Williams killed at Chancellorsville ; 
Lieut. E. B. Spinks captured at Fisher's Hill ; 
Lieut. Moon at Spottsylvania. 

At Gaines Mill, D. H. Malcomb, Lewis Lester, 
J. R. Aycock, L. C. Cooper, W. M. Elder, S. 
Garden, T. M. Hall, W. B. Jones, G. A. Nolan, 
and A. C. Osburn were wounded. In this same 
desperate fight W. F. Adams, J. M. Butler, Jas. 
II. Daniel, H. Doolittle, J. Glover, H. M. Kidd, 
John Murrah, W. A. Robertson, R. E. Royster 
and P. M. Stewart were killed. M. Mooney was 
killed and J. E. Thomas wounded at Malvern 
Hill. 

At Sharpsburg, G. W. Autrey was wounded 
and captured and W- M. Elder. W. W. Hunt 
wounded. N. L. Johnson was killed. 

At Gettysburg, W. H. Bishop, Lewis Lester, 
J W. McRee, F. M. Daniel, Ed Gleason, W. T. 
Osburn, Henry C. Poss, W. Pullnot were 



238 

wounded. Geo. Tiller was captured and died 
in prison. 

At Chancellorsville, W. P. Bearden, W. L. 
Biggs, C. L. Burger, J. W. Davenport, David B. 
Elder. Ed Gleason. A. D. Grififeth, Tolbert X. 
Lester, J. W. Miller, T. J. Moseley, W. P. Mose- 
ley, A. J. Pickerel!, T. J. Simonton were all 
wounded and G. W. Klutts. D. W. Griffeth. H. 
^laxcy. Jno. B- Daniel, killed. 

At the Wilderness, W. J. Whitehead lost a leg ; 
W. P. Bearden, E. C. Cooper, J. J. Griffeth. 
N. F. Hunt, J. B. Eangford were wounded. 

A. E. Beavers was killed at Front Royal ; 
T. J. Moseley at Cedar Creek; G. W. Nunnally 
at Petersburg ; T. J. Simonton at Gettysburg. 

At Spottsylvania, W. N. Autry, N. J. Daniel, 
C. A. Dicken, W. E. Elder, D. E. Huff, J. P. 
Huff, W. W. Hunt, B. C. Eangford, E. S. Les- 
ter, F. M. McRee, J. R. McRee, W. H. Bishop, 
P. W. Miller, W. C. Nunnally, H. C. Poss, J. B. 
Pulnot, L. Whitehead, D. J. Willoughby were 
captured and Hunt, Nunnally and Whitehead 
died in prison. C. Sanders and J. W. Vickers 
were wounded and H. Whitehead and S. T. 
Maxcy killed. 

F. M. Daniel was killed at Winchester; R, 
B. ]\IcRee captured at Strasburg : ^^^ ]\Iont- 
gomery at Hagerstown ;i J. J. Thornton was 
wounded at Thornton's Gap; J. Pulnot at W^in- 
chester; N. J. Daniel was killed and N. F. Hunt 



239 



and J. W. Miller wounded at Cedar Creek. ; W. 
F. McRee was wounded at Snickers Gap and at 
Petersburg. 

Of the enlisted men, J. H. Jackson, J. A. 
Adams, J. P. Biggs, A. Burger, D. R. Butler, 
H. F. Carter, W. East, W. B. Edwards, W. T. 
Giles, J. W. Hunt, W. P. McWhorter, B. T. 
Owen, J. J. Owen, H. Simonton, T. J. Thomp- 
son, A. Whitehead, S. J. Wilcoxson and W. W. 
Willoughby died from disease and all of them 
died in the first year of their enlistment. 

The Highland Guards were officered by : 

Captain, William S. Grady; ist Lieut., John 
R. Hayes ; 2nd Lieut., John M. Phinizy ; 3rd 
Lieut., B. F. Jackson; ist Sgt., C. A. Jones; 
2nd Sgt., H. W. Edmondson; 3rd Sgt., Wm. 
Marr; 4th Sgt., Peter Weil; 5th Sgt., W. B. 
Bass; ist Corp., A. Adkins; 2nd Corp., J. W. 
Queen ; 3rd Corp., L H, Schevenell ; 4th Corp., 
F. M. Hadley. 

This company enrolled 135 men, about fifty 
of whom came from Western North Carolina, 
where Captain Grady was well known. The 
company was attached to the 25th N. C. Regi- 
ment, Ransom's Brigade. 

Capt. Grady was promoted to the rank of 
Major and was killed at Petersburg . Lieut. 
Hayes resigned on account of disability and John 
M. Phinizy became Captain. 

The reports of casualties in this company are 



240 



very meagre. Lieut. Jackson was wounded at 
Malvern Hill, and A. Adkins, G. Garland, C. 
l,ackerby, W. Runyon, were killed 

At Petersburg. R. Barton, Lorenzo Bird, San- 
ders Colbert, W. Gales, L. Harris, T. McAllis- 
ter, M. Parks, W. J. Weatherford, J. Williams 
and George Wright were killed. J. Blackburn, 
and G. Raison were killed at Fredericksburg. 

The 25th North Carolina did some stubborn 
fighting and the casualties in this company must 
have been much heavier than we have any 
record of. In its ranks were Peter Weil, George 
Center, George Bass, Tom Childers, Leonard 
Schevenell and W. D. Williams. Tom Tolbert 
was wounded five times once in a very peculiar 
way. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

When Chattanooga was evacuated by the Con- 
federates the situation began to look serious for 
Georgia and the "stay at homes" began to or- 
ganize for defence. 

One company was formed from the operatives 
in the factories and machine shops. They elect- 
ed for their Captain, James White, and for 
Lieutenants, Peter Culp, E. J. McCall and J. V. 
Adkins. They numbered no men and R. L. 
Bloomfield, Reuben Nickerson and W. J. Morton 
were privates. 



241 



Edward P. Lumpkin organized the Wilson 
Lumpkin Artillery, known as Lumpkin's batte- 
ry, composed for the most part of disabled men^ 
exempts and boys not yet old enough to enlist. 
The officers were : E. P. Lumpkin, Capt. ; Cicero 
Weir, 1st Lieut.; W. H. Morton, 2nd Lieut.; 
Sam Pruitt, 3rd Lieut. W. H. Hodgson, Ber- 
nard Franklin, J. J. Turnbull, E. R. Hodgson. 
John Billups, John Frierson. Singleton Lucas. 
Jack Weir and Columbus Wilkerson were among 
its members. 

Major Ferdy Cook organized the men who 
^vere employed in the Confederate armory into 
a battalion. They numbered about two hun- 
dred. 

The "Oconee Rangers" was a company of cav- 
alry commanded by John C. Turner. Captain : 
James R. Lyle, ist Lieut.; J. O. Thrasher, 2nd 
Lieut. ; J. J. Thomas, 3rd Lieut. ; Stephen Elliott, 
Jr-, and Sergeants. W. J. Morten. W. H. Hull. 
W. C. Weir. It was attached to Toomb's Regi- 
ment. 

The "Lumpkin Artillery" never went further 
than the hill at Princeton Factory, but they saved 
Athens from a hostile invasion, as the following 
incident will show : 

Gen. Horace Capron met John H, Christy in 
Washington after the war, and learning that he 
was from Athens, said "I was once at Watkins- 
ville, but never at Athens." "Why, how did you 



242 

get to Watkinsville without going through Ath- 
ens?" said Mr. Christy. "Well." replied Gen. 
Capron, "In 1864 I was one of Stoneman's bri- 
gade which was scattered through that country 
and we came to a river near Athens, on the other 
side of which a battery of artillery was placed 
which fired at us. We supposed it was support- 
ed by a strong force and retired." 

The "Lipscomb Volunteers" was formed main- 
ly of the resigned artillery men. F. W. Adams 
was elected Captain, and the Lieutenants were: 
John C. Moore, Robt. H. Goodman and G. W. 
Barber ; Sergeants, William King, A. G. Turner, 
Thos. Crawford, T. N. Epps, T. A. Adams ; and 
Corporals, W. H. Hodgson, E. vS. Hull, G. A. 
Gilmore and B. W^. Parr made up the non- com- 
misioned roll. 

Among the privates were A. A. Lipscomb, W. 
H. Waddell, Henry Beusse, L. Flisch, John 
Hampton, W. V. P. Hodgson, Prince Hodgson, 
W. L. Jones, D. M. Kenney, A. J. Lamar, H. A. 
Lowrance, G. W. Mason, W. T. Moon, J. M. 
Nicholson, C. W. Parr, John Potts, William 
Rutherford, W. N. White, P. Wray, E. H. Von- 
derleith and A. M. Scudder. 

Of these companies I shall have something" 
more to say. 

Besides those already enumerated, there were 
about one hundred men from Athens enlisted in 
other commands. There were Lamar Cobb,. 



243 



Kobert Thomas, John A. Cobb, John W. Niclj- 
olson, R. L. Moss on Gen. Cobb's staff, and 
Doctors James Camak, Crawford W. Long. R. 
M. Smith, Joseph B. Carkon, Cicero Holt, E. D. 
Newton, surgeons in other regiments. Frank 
Hill was Colonel of the ist Ga. Regulars. Blan- 
ton A. Hill was Major of an Alabama Regiment 
and was killed at Deep Bottom, Va. Thos. C. 
Billups, William Henry Hull and John Bird were 
in the 5th Georgia Cavalry; James M. Hull was 
ill the Chatham Artillery and died in 1864; 
Brainerd Palmer and S. M. Hunter in ist Ga. 
Regulars ; Frank A. Lipscomb was in a Mary- 
land regiment and A. L. Hull and Victor Smith 
ir the Engineer Corps. 

Prof. Wash joined Morgan's Cavalry and 
Willie Chase was killed with the Mississippians 
at Franklin. Edward W. Hull was Lieutenant 
in the 8th Georgia and afterwards on Gen. Bate's 
staff. Harvie Hull was Captain in Stovall's 
brigade. James Barrow, who was a cadet at 
West Point when the war began, was Lieutenant 
Colonel and was killed at Ocean Pond. Jim 
McCleskev was a Lieutenant in the Georgia 
Cadets. Jep Rucker and Tom Hamilton were in 
the same battallion and Tom was wounded at 
C)conee Bridge. Fred Lucas enlisted with 
Breckenridge's Cavalry. 



244 

CHAPTER XXXL 

Some of my readers may find this long array 
of names not interesting. Not so with nie. 
Many of those men I knew and the mention of 
tiieir names bring up memories of other days 
which throw a halo about them. I recall how 
thev looked as they marched, new uniformed, with 
alert step, full of life and vigor, and how they 
stopped to speak the good-bye word ; how, after- 
wards, they toiled on the forced march tattered, 
half shod, half starved ; how they went bravely 
into battle and how some came out bloody and 
faint, and some lay dead. 

T know of no published record of the muster 
lolls of these companies, or of their casualties. 
It is due these brave men that their names shoukl 
be preserved. It is a great honor to have been 
a true Confederate soldier, and I deem it a pri- 
vilege to aid in recording these names where 
posterity may read them. 

The population of Clarke county, according 
to the census of i860, was 11,218. Of these 
5.679 were negroes and 5,539 whites, and of this 
number at least two-thirds were women and 
children. According to this estimate, there were 
1,513 white men and boys in Clarke county, of 
whom 1,300 went into the army. Sixteen per 
cent, of these were wounded, eleven per cent, 
were killed and ten per cent, died from disease — 
thirty-six per cent put Jwrs du combat. 



245 
Summary of Losres in Companies from Clarke Co. 

C _; 

r- <D 0) 

Company. .5 '§ ,-• s 

H 

Troup Artillery 267 

Athens Guards 140 

Clarke Rifles . .." IBO 

Deloney's Cavalry 168 

Ritch's Cavalry 147 

Mell Rifles 134 

Johnson Guards 145 

Highland Guards 135 

Other Companies 100 

Total 1386 218 153 134 51 

* Unknown. 

And yet these percentages were low as com- 
pared with the losses in some regiments dtiring 
the war. The ist Texas lost 83 per cent, at 
Sharpsburg. In a charge at Gettysburg a part 
of the 1st Minnesota lost 82 per cent, and m Ihe 
26th North Carolina at Sharpsbttrg only 84 out 
of 87 men escaped, a loss of 95 per cent. These 
are instances of the desperate fighting between 






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246 



ir.en of valor in the great war. 

Athens gave to the army two Major Generals, 
Howell Cobb and M. L. Smith, and one Brigadier 
General, Thomas R. R. Cobb, and if we count 
Henry R. Jackson, who was born and spent his 
boyhood here, we may claim another. 

Of the commands which went from this 
county, Samuel P. Lumpkin, H. C. Billups. W. 
G. Deloney, Thos. U. Camak, Frank Hill, Har- 
rington King and P. H. Alell became Colonels. 
Cobb's Legion was originally composed of sol- 
diers in the three branches of service artillery. 
infantry and cavalry. Col. Cobb mustered in at 
Yorktown one battery of artillery, seven compa- 
nies of infantry and four troops of cavalrv. The 
Legion was in fact a brigade and the Colonel 
had pretty hard work when General Alagruder 
ordered a dress parade to drill his men in rhree 
different kinds of tactics. 

Cobb's Brigade was commanded b\ Gen. 
Howell Cobb until he was ordered to Geo^'gia, 
when Col. Thos. R. R. Cobb, whose E^egion was 
a part of that brigade, was promoted to its cr)m- 
mand. 

When General Lee's army was scattered from 
Harper's Ferry to Hagerstown. (tcn. McClellan 
sent 14,000 men to relieve the former place by 
way of Crampton's Gap. Cobb's Brigade, with 
Troup Artillery and a few Virginia cavalry, in 
all 2.200 men, were ordered to hold the Gap. 



247 



They were attacked by 6,500 Federals. It was 
a sacrifice made necessary in order to delay the 
enemy until General Lee could get his scattered 
divisions together. The brigade was badly cut 
up but held their ground until they were over- 
whelmed and driven back. But they saved Lee's 
army from being cut in two. At Fredericksburg 
Cobb's Brigade defended the position behind the 
stone wall from which fourteen Federal brigades 
were successively driven back with a loss of 
eight thousand men. There Gen. Thomas R. R. 
Cobb was killed. 

At Fredericksburg Troup Artillery fired the 
signal gun which opened the battle and to that 
company too was assigned the honor of firing 
the signal gun which preceded Pickett's charge 
at Gettysburg. At Crampton's Gap the company 
lost eighteen horses and nearly all its guns were 
disabled. 

Cobb's Legion Cavalry were splendid fighters 
and General Hampton said of them with pardon- 
able pride, "It was the best regiment in either 
army. North or South." At Brandy Station as 
Gen. Lee was preparing to advance into Penn- 
sylvania, twelve thousand Federal cavalry at- 
tacked Jeb Stuart and were about to overwhelm 
him. His batteries of horse artillery had been 
captured and the fight had assumed the character 
of a melee with every man for himself against 
two or three of the enemv. 



248 



At this juncture Pierce Young came upon the 
field with Cobb's Legion Cavalry and charged 
at full speed, cutting and slashing with sabres 
drawn, carrying everything before them. The 
repulse became a rout and in wild disorder the 
Federals fled to the refuge of their batteries. 
One of the most gallant of their soldiers was 
Willie Church, Adjutant of the regiment. He 
was struck nineteen times during the war, and no 
less than nine of the enemy are said to have 
fallen under the strokes of his sabre. 

At Trevillian's, Col. Deloney fought a duel 
with sabres with a Federal sergeant and un- 
horsed him, but at Gettysburg he was attacked 
by four of the enemy and would have been killed 
but for Henry E. Jackson, who came to his re- 
lief and saved his life. 

CHAPTER XXXn. 

Professor William D. Wash and William M. 
Chase both enlisted in Mississippi regiments. 
P>oth behaved with conspicuous bravery at the 
battle of Franklin where Willie Chase was killed 
on the top of the breastworks. Mr. Wash joined 
Morgan's cavalry and at Cynthiana and Gallatin 
was noted for his gallant conduct. He was cap- 
tured in 1863 and died in prison. A comrade 
wrote of him, "He knew no fear. I have no 
hesitation in savins: he was the bravest man I 



249 



ever saw, as cool in battle as if he did not know 
what was going on. At Cynthiana, Ky., he went 
ahead of his command amid a shower of bullets 
and minded them no more than a summer 
shower. At Gallatin, Tenn., he distinguished 
himself by coolness and bravery." 

Major Grady was a prosperous merchant 
and a man of great integrity of character. 
He was converted in the revival of 1857 and be- 
came an earnest Christian. The writer was sent 
to him early one morning with a message and 
found the family at prayers and the Major pray- 
ing with unction. Breakfast was ready at home 
and the pangs of hunger got hold upon me, but 
Mr. Grady would not let up. I could hear him 
distinctly in the next room. He prayed for 
everything in town, then for Europe, Asia, and 
the Islands of the sea, and I remember wondering 
if he had old Mitchell's Atlas and was taking it 
page by page. Major Grady was a fine officer 
and all Athens grieved with his family when he 
was killed in one of the attacks on Petersburg. 

At the battle of Fredericksburg Dick Saye, 
while serving one of the guns of Troup x\rtillery, 
saw a shell with a lighted fuse fall in a few feet 
of him. With the utmost coolness he picked it 
up and pitched it down the hill where it exploded, 
saving by his bravery his own life and doubtless 
the lives of many of his comrades. 

A. C. Sorrell, another member of that com- 



250 



pany, was promoted from the ranks for gallantry 
on the field and made a stafif officer. 

Dr. Edwin D. Newton, that genial comrade, 
was present at the cradle and the grave of the 
Confederacy. He saw President Davis take the 
oath of office in Montgomery and was surgeon 
in charge of the last field hospital at Appomat- 
tox. 

Gen. Martin L. Smith was a graduate of West 
Point, a classmate of Gen. Longstreet, and an 
officer in the old armv. He married Aliss Sarah 
Nisbet, of Athens, and when he resigned from 
the United States service made his home in 
Athens. 

For gallant conduct at the capture of the Citv 
of Mexico he was brevetted with Lieutenants 
Beauregard, Bee, U- S. Grant, and Captains 
Tosenh Hooker and Robert E. Lee. With them 
he was one of the founders of the Aztec Club. 

After the fall of New Orleans, Col. Smith was 
made Brigadier General and placed in command 
of Vicksburg. He fortified the position so well 
that when Farragut and Porter with seventy-sev- 
en ships of war and five thousand men attacked, 
he kept them at bay with less than one thousand 
men. For this g-allant defense Gen. Smith was 
promoted to Major General. Of his work at 
X'icksburg, General Pemberton wrote to the 
IVesident. "To Maj. Gen. ^L L. Smith the de- 
fenses of Vicksburg have been entrusted and he 



251 



IF entitled to the highest credit for the disposi- 
tion of his troops and the arrangements for de- 
fense which rendered the places almost impreg- 
nable." At the capture of Vicksburg General 
Smith was paroled and returned home. After 
his exchange he was ordered to report to General 
Lee and was made Chief Engineer of the Army 
of Northern Virginia. He established the lines 
en which the battle of tlie Wilderness was fought, 
and the battles of Spottsylvania, North Anna, 
Cold Harbor, and Petersburg were all fought on 
the lines which he had laid out. At the Wilder- 
ness he was asked by Gen. Longstreet, who had 
just come upon the field, to find a route by which 
he might flank Hancock and was then ordered to 
lead the attack. The flank movement rolled up 
Hancock as he himself said, "like a wet blanket," 
and was one of the most brilliant strokes of the 
war. 

The "Bloody Angle" at Spottsylvania was on 
a part of the line which Gen. Smith had advised 
should be abandoned for a stronger one in the 
rear, and it was from this rear line that two 
days later Gen. Lee drove back twelve thousand 
Federals before they got within rifle range of 
the works. 

General Smith was one of the handsomest of 
soldiers, rather reserved with strangers, but 
among friends was genial and winning, though 
never undignified. He had been elected Pro- 



252 



fessor of Civil Engineering in the University, 
Ixit died in 1866 in Rome, Ga., while Cliief En- 
gineer of the Alabama and Tennessee Railroad. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

To recur to the days when the enthusiasm of 
the people was at its height, in those spring days 
of 1861, business of all kinds was utterly demor- 
alized. Students quit college, boys ran away 
from school, clerks resigned their places, mer- 
chants closed their stores, farmers left their 
crops, to volunteer. All political parties had 
united in one and with one consent, determined 
to uphold the independence of Georgia. No one 
had to be begged to volunteer. What the) 
begged was arms for the volunteer and the volun- 
teer begged to be assigned to duty. Not many 
remained behind. Men over age, invalids, some 
unfit for military duty, public officers, physicians 
and a few, a very few, skulkers. 

As the war progressed, times grew harder. 
Merchants began to refuse credit and distress 
and want appeared among the poor- Public 
meetings were held for their relief. Dr. R. D. 
Moore advertised that he would attend families 
of soldiers, making no charge for medical ser- 
vices. 

The Paper Mill was burned — a loss of $i6(:Ov) 
— throwing many out of employment. The 



253 



Judges of the Inferior Court authorized the issue 
of $15,000 in bonds by the County to reHeve 
destitute famihes, and the ladies organized a 
Working Society with Mrs. KrankHn, President, 
and Mesdames Stovall, Lipscomb, Hoyt, Hull, 
Childs, Nickerson, Rutherford, Mitchell, Brit- 
tain, J. H. Newton, H. Cobb, Baxter, Rucker 
and Miss Colt as Directors. Mrs. Franklin was 
a most ardent Southerner, taking up the lead 
pipe of the fountains in her beautiful yard to 
mould bullets for the soldiers. This Ladies' Aid 
Society continued throughout the war, furnish- 
mg clothing to soldiers and helping the destitute 
in every way, and the soft hands of delicate 
girls who had never been taught to work, were 
busy sewing on rough cloth and knitting socks 
to send to the boys at the front. The good these 
patriotic ladies accomplished cannot be estimated. 
To show the unanimity with which men volun- 
teered during the war, there were six Hemrick 
brothers, seven Bradberrys, twelve Elders, eight 
of them brothers in Clarke Rifles, and ten Thorn- 
ton brothers in the army from Clarke county. 
Old Mrs. Bone had ten sons in the army in Vir- 
ginia. She wrote to General Lee in 1863, asking 
him to let one of her boys come home to make 
her crop and the General replied in an autograph 
letter under date of April i8th, and after ac- 
knowledging the receipt of Mrs. Bone's letter 
said, "You have set a noble example in devoting 



254 

your ten sons to the service of the country, and 
in encouraging them to defend their homes. We 
need every good soldier we have in the army. 
If we allowed all to return who are needed at 
home we should soon have no country and no 
homes. I sympathize with you in your anxie- 
ties and privations, but I trust your kind neigh- 
bors in the patriotic state of Georgia will not 
permit you to want while your brave sons a:-e 
doing their duty manfully against the enemy. 

I am respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

R. E. LEE." 

By the autumn of 1862 every man between 18 
and 45 years of age had gone to the army except 
a few exempts, and many had gone who were 
both below and above those ages. The absentees 
were replaced to some extent by about 200 
operatives of Cook's Armory, which had been 
erected across the river — now the Check Factory. 

Ferdinand Cook and his brother, under com- 
mission from the Confederate Government, built 
and reorganized here the manufactory of arms 
which had been destroyed with the capture of 
New Orleans. Guns, pistols, swords and bay- 
onets were made there until the close of the war. 
Major Cook, whose family occupied the late 
home of Mr. F. W. Lucas, was a most hospitable 
man and kept open house for the refugees. At 
the siege of Savannah he recklessly exposed him- 



255 



self, standing" on the breastworks and firing shot 
after shot at the enemy with fatal accuracy, 
until he himself fell shot through the head. 

Some young negroes, relieved of the authority 
of their masters, became troublesome, and Hope 
Fire Company formed themselves into a home 
guard, and the boys from 12 to 16 organized two 
companies among themselves. The "Georgia 
Rangers" thirsted for blood under command of 
Capt. Peyton R. Hutchins, and the "Davis Life 
Guards," unde'r Capt. John G. Dent, were equal- 
1\' defiant of the foul invader. Both companies 
paraded religiously in all the processions and es- 
corted to the depot every troop that left foi the 
army. In one week in March 1862 seven com- 
panies marched through Athens to the seat of 
war. To all of them the Rangers did the honors 
of the town. A banner was presented to the 
Rangers by Prof. Wm. H. Waddell, in behalf of 
the young ladies of the town, and was received 
with a patriotic response by Carlton Hillyer, a 
member of the company. 

The only case of mob law which ever occurred 
in Athens was in July, 1862. A negro belonging 
to Dr. Macon assaulted the wife of the overseer 
who had gone into the army, was arrested and 
brought to town for trial, in the old Town Hall, 
bsquire Kirkpatrick bound him over on his own 
confession for trial in the Superior Court. No 
sooner was the decision uttered than the crowd 



256 

surged toward the prisoner, a rope was thrown 
around his neck and he was led across the bridge, 
a great crowd following, and hanged to a pine 
tree, about a mile down the Georgia Railroad. 
The recollection of that wild procession march- 
ing down Broad Street, the leader with the rope 
ii; his hand and the negro dumbly following is 
as fresh as the occurrences of yesterday. 

A little more than a year ago while excavating 
for the Empire Fertilizer Works, the bones of 
this negro were dug up and recalled the only 
hanging this county in its present limits has ever 
known. 

The newspapers reached Athens in those days 
about five o'clock in the afternoon. Everybody 
was accustomed to assemble on the street, and 
when the omnibus came over bringing a paper, 
it would be given to a good reader, who, stand- 
ing on a dry goods box, retailed the contents. 
When news of a battle came, the scene was in- 
tensely dramatic. Fathers and brothers waited 
breathlessly to hear if their boy's name was 
among the killed or wounded, and if no mention, 
sighs of relief told of the relaxed tension, 
though anxiety still clouded their faces. Many 
can remember when the news first came 
that Joe McCleskey was killed and J. W. Reaves 
and George Graham, and Ben Mell, and Ben 
Carlton, and General Cobb, and Colonel Delony, 
and Colonel Camak, and many another brave 



257 



fellow who had left a happy home never to re- 
turn alive. 

The wonder is how the people endured the 
strain. The safeguard of the women was work. 
The wants of the soldiers, the poverty of the 
country, the absolute destitution of all the com- 
forts of life, not to speak of luxuries, made it 
necessary to resort to every shift to support life. 

Business was utterly demoralized, and all en- 
terprises were at a stand-still, excepting the cloth 
mills; the merchants demanded cash for their 
goods and there was great destitution. In the 
face of this condition of things there were men 
who hoarded corn and wheat and demanded 
enormous prices for them, until the Legislature 
passed an act to prevent extortion. 

The Southern woman learned to do without 
and became most resourceful in devising ways 
and means. Old attics were ransacked for cast 
off garments. Old clothes were turned and dyed, 
and silks of ancient pattern and homespun cot- 
ton dresses were equally fashionable- Bonnets 
were made up of old silk dresses, adorned with 
feathers from a rooster's tail. Thick leather 
shoes replaced the dainty slipper, and knitted 
gloves and stockings were highly prized. Per- 
simmon seeds were converted into buttons and 
thorns were used for hair pins. 

Chicory and ground peas, potatoes and rye, 
were substitutes for coffee, sorghum for sugar 



258 



and sassafras for tea. Vinegar was made from 
persimmons ; pens were made from goose quills ; 
ink from oak galls and the sumac berry. 

Commercial medicines were extremely scarce, 
and herbs and decoctions were resorted to for 
the sick. Old smoke houses were leached for salt ; 
nails and cotton thread were current articles of 
exchange. Dirt from beneath old houses was 
drawn out and leached for nitre to make powder. 
Old lead pipes and valleys wei'e contributed tor 
bullets ; linen sheets went to the hospitals for 
bandages ; letters were written on paper which 
would be thought now not fit for wrapping paper. 
The oil lamp gave way to the tallow candle, and 
that in turn to the "dip," a wick string dipped in 
hot tallow and wax and wound around a bottle 
oi a corn cob. 

Sewing and knitting with busy fingers, weav- 
ing, making lint for wounds, suffering, hungry, 
sick, the Southern woman kept the home, helped 
the needy, entertained the stranger, and strength- 
ened the absent soldier by her patriotism, longing 
for his safe return, and without a thought of 
peace except with honor. 

Thomas Nelson Page in one of his essays re- 
lates the story of a letter which was found in the 
pocket of a Georgia soldier killed near Richmond. 
Tr was from his sweetheart — poorly written and 
badly spelled — and she said if he would get a 
furlough and come home she would marry him. 



259 



And there was added a postscript, "'Don't come 
without a furlough, for if you don't come hon- 
orable, I wont marry you." And that was the 
spirit of the Southern women. 

And they not only financed the family's 
support without money, but they managed the 
family's business without it, for Confederate 
money soon became as plentiful as blackberries 
in June, but worth less. It became a basis 
rather than a medium of exchange, and its value 
so constantly depreciated that no one knew when 
he took it today what it would buy tomorrow. 

Farmers who had the products of the farm, 
had no inducements to sell them for cash, though 
they were quite ready to exchange them for 
other commodities. Nails, leather and factory 
thread always commanded an exchange. The 
following quotations look startling when com- 
pared with those of today. They are prices 
actually paid for the provisions . 

Bacon, per pound $7.00; Lard, per pound 
$6.00 ; Tallow, per pound, $4.50 ; Peas, per bushel, 
Si 5.00; Sweet Potatoes per bush. $15.00; Onions 
per bushel $50.00 ; Flour per bbl. $300.00 ; i Ham, 
$40.00; Beef, per lb, $2.00; Butter per pound, 
$6.80; Brown Sugar, $6.00, Corn, per bushel, 
$20.00; Wheat, per bushel, $25.00; Irish Potatoes 
$20.00 ; Meal, $30.00 ; Fodder, per 100 lbs., 
$15.00; Salt, per peck, $1.00. 

Early in 1865 the writer w-as sent to Augusta 



260 

with dispatches for Gen. Rains, and on the way 
bought for a hinch a pint of ground peas for $2 
and five ginger cakes as big as biscuits for $5. 
A grey jackett of woolen cloth (not jeans), cost 
$150, and the only way to get a pair of boots 
was to capture them. It used to be said that 'i 
woman went shopping with a wheelbarrow to 
carry her money in and brought her packages 
home in her pocketbook. It may be imagined 
what destitution prevailed among the poor and 
what suffering among those of the better class 
\\-ho could not labor and yet whose support was 
gone. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

None but those who passed through those 
years of want can imagine the distress of the 
poor Confederates. And yet as compared with 
many other communities, Athens was the home 
of plenty, for though the Federals were all 
around us at different times, the town was never 
in their hands until after Lee's surrender. Man;' 
refugees sought homes here when driven from 
other cities. The Hugers, the Holmes, Craw 
fords, Kennedys, Wilkins and Deas from New 
Orleans, Gen. ]\Iartin's family from Alississippi, 
the Trezvants from Memphis, the Postells and 
Screvens from Savannah, and the Schlatters 
from Brunswick, the Barnwells from the Coast. 



261 



and many others, found a welcome in our midst, 
and the exercises of the College having been 
suspended the dormitories were thrown open to 
the refugees. 

Many of these ladies were attractive additions 
ti) the society of the town, and despite the cloud 
that hung over the country many inexpensive 
but charming entertainments w'ere given them. 

Stern cynics condemned this gaiety at a time 
when the country was full of sorrow and some- 
times in the midst of the cotillon the news of a 
battle and the mortal wound of a brother or 
some dear friend was heard. But had there not 
been some relaxation of the strain, women would 
have become insane. And these little pleasures 
enabled them to enter upon the next day cheer- 
fully and with a new energy to take up the work 
which the necessities of the times forced them 
to do. 

After the retreat from Gettysburg and the fall 
of Vicksburg and Chattanooga, the people of 
Athens became alarmed for their own safety. 
Public meetings were held and a Committee of 
Safety was appointed empowered to organize the 
remaining citizens into companies for home de- 
fense. This committee was composed of John 
Billups, Asbury Hull, Dr. Henry Hull, Junius 
Hillyer, Williams Rutherford, J. H. Christy, W. 
L. Mitchell, R. D. Moore, H. R. J. Long, S. 
Thomas, F. W. C. Cook. 



262 

Dr. P. H. Mell was requested to act as Colonel. 
The "Wilson Lumpkin Artillery," Captain E. P. 
Lumpkin, the "Lipscomb Volunteers," Capt. F. 
W. Adams, and the "Oconee Rangers," Captaiu 
J C. Turner, were organized, besides two com- 
panies of the detailed men in the Armory to 
which reference has been made. 

These companies were mustered in for six 
months for the defense of the State — the in- 
fantry in Col. Mell's regiment and the cavalry 
ii\ Col. Toombs' — and went into camp. 

After digging trenches at Rome for awhile 
against which they protested because it made 
their backs ache, the Governor sent them to 
Savannah, and after they were well rested, they 
came home. Besides the companies named, a 
battery of artillery under Dr. R. D. IVIoore as 
Captain was organized, and of the camps on 
Carr's Hill, and Sandy Creek ridge, and Hol- 
sey's hill, and the marching to and fro of this 
battery, the writer has a distinct recollection. 

The two companies from the Armory did some 
good fighting at Griswoldville and Savannah 
while ineffectually opposing Sherman's raid 
through Georgia, and lost several men killed and 
wounded. They were complimented for their 
behavior by Gen. Gustavus W. Smith in his offi- 
cial report. 

A number of others were enrolled in a com- 
pany attached to Col. Andrew Young's regiment, 



263 

of which Clovis G. Talmadge was Adjutant and 
John E. Talmadge, A. G. Elder and R. B. Hodg- 
son members. Col. Young, a man of great firm- 
ness, commanded this regiment of State troops, 
encamped for a time at the old fair ground. He 
had need of a portable forge and smith's tools 
for shoeing his horses, and the only one to be 
found was owned by Mrs. J. C. Orr. Under his 
authority to impress such things for military use 
the Colonel sent a demand for the forge. His 
report to Gen. Howell Cobb in relating this in- 
cident says: "Mrs. Orr refused to surrender 
the forge and said I could not have it except 
across her dead body. I have sent a wagon 
for the forge with orders to shoot Mrs. Orr if 
necessary to get it." Then a postscript : "The 
wagon has come with the forge, the necessity of 
the case not requiring the shooting of Mrs. Orr." 
In July, 1864, part of Stoneman's brigade try- 
ing to rejoin the Federal Army, came within a 
few miles of Athens, but being followed by a bri- 
gade of cavalry under Col. W. P. C. Breckin- 
ridge, afterwards a distinguished member of 
Congress from Kentucky, were captured in 
Jackson County, and 430 men with horses and 
arms were brought into town, and for three or 
four days kept under guard on the Campus before 
being sent to Andersonville. This was a time 
of great excitement. It was the nearest ap- 
proach to war the town had ever known. Soldiers 



264 



and camps and Yankees, with all the accompani- 
ments, left no room for anything else, and the 
whole community turned out to spread a banquet 
in the chapel for the gallant Kentuckians, the 
scraps from which were sent down to the pris- 
oners, who were glad enought to get them. An 
incident in connection with this capture is in- 
delibly impressed upon my memory. For a week 
after the Kentuckians had gone, prisoners were 
brought in one at a time from the country around 
and among them was an Irishman fresh from the 
Emerald Isle. The Provost Marshal's office was 
on Broad Street over McCurdy's beef market. 
While this prisoner was seated on the steps very 
much exhausted by hunger and exposure, pati- 
ently awaiting his fate, there came blustering up 
a man clothed with the brief authority of a bomb 
proof position and gave the poor Yankee such a 
cursing as I never heard before or since and en- 
ded by kicking him as he went up the steps. Boy 
as I was I boiled over with indignation and I felt 
like apologizing to the prisoner for the whole 
State of Georgia ; and I never saw that man after - 
v/ards^and he lived twenty years after the war — 
that I did not say to myself "there goes a cow- 
ard." 

Shortly after this, Athens became a military 
post. Gen. A. W. Reynolds taking command. Gen. 
Reynolds had an able staff of volunteer aids, 
who were conspicuous at all the entertainments. 



265 



He observed bank hours strictly, and would at- 
tend to no business before 9 or after 2 o'clock. 
The only thing he ever did was to recover an 
old horse which was stolen from a citizen. It 
v>'as his good fortune, however to have been as- 
signed to so quiet a town as x\thens. 

CHAPTER XXX\'. 

The "jMitchell Thunderbolts" was a home 
guard company named like the "Lipscomb Vol- 
unteers" from a distinguished private in the 
ranks. 

It was an unique organization. The}' organiz- 
ed strictly for home defense and positively re- 
fused to obey orders from anybody. They recog- 
nized no superior officer. The right of criticism 
was reserved to every member of the Company 
and objections to the tactics were freely of- 
fered and discussed. 

Umbrellas and walking canes were permitted 
in ranks and one at least of the privates 
brought his negro man along to carry his gun 
and cartridge box. The company was named for 
Mr. William L. Mitchell, who though a private 
freely gave advice to the officers and by the or- 
iginality of his suggestions made pastime of the 
perils of war. 

The admirable sketch of the Thunderbolts 
written bv Mr. Thos. W. Reed some vears aeo 



266 



ir. so descriptive of this historic company that I 
take the Hberty of inserting it here. 

The civil war brought forth a number of uni- 
que organizations, but none more so than a mih- 
tary company formed in the classic city of Ath- 
ens Ga., and known as the "Mitchell Thunder- 
bolts." From the name one might readily in- 
fer that it was a company made up of fierce and 
savage men, eager for the fray and ready at all 
times to ravage and slaughter ; yet such was not 
the case, for in all their eventful career no harm 
was done to a human being, no property was 
seized and not one drop of blood stained their 
spotless escutcheon. 

The Thunderbolts at the close of the war prided 
themselves on a history possessed by no other 
company on earth. They had performed their 
every duty and hence their consciences were 
clear ; they had carried every purpose for which 
they were organized and were consequently one 
of the few companies to whom absolute success 
came ; they had handled firearms, it is true, but 
bad never shot one single time at a human being ; 
they had heard of the enemy, but no bluecoat had 
ever poked a gun in their faces ; not a single 
member had been killed, wounded, or found miss- 
ing, and no man for one moment could question 
their undoubted bravery. Although they dis- 
charged their duties fully their names never 
found their way to the pension roll, and not a 



267 



penny was ever drawn by them from the state 
funds set aside by the commonwealth of Geor- 
gia for the reHef of the veterans of the Confed- 
erate armies. 

Nearly all of the members were over fifty 
years of age when the company was organized; 
a few were physically disabled, and a few were 
less than fifty years of age, but compelled to stay 
ii! Athens for various reasons. At any rate, of 
that famous command, so far as the records at 
hand show, not a single veteran remains in the 
l?nd of the living. Hence, whatever may be 
written here concerning them, is written 
as lovingly as a son would write of his 
father and with patriotic appreciation of the 
motiv£s that inspired them in their every action. 
While in life they used to laugh and tell of their 
connection with the "Thunderbolts," of the many 
humorous incidents of those days, and one of the 
most illustrious members had almost completed 
a history of those times when death removed 
him from the stage of action. 

During the early part of the war between the 
states the Classic City sent to the front the very 
flower of her young manhood. They followed 
the lead of the gallant Cobb, the intrepid Deloney 
and other chivalric leaders, and gave to the army 
of Northern Virginia as valiant service as any 
band of soldiers who ever donned the trappings 
of war. When the demand for recruits became 



268 



quite pressing the older men began to enlist in 
the army and in 1863 the city of Athens had been 
almost depopulated of its male citizens. Few 
were left besides those whose advanced age re- 
quired them to stay at home. In fact, only a 
few scores of soldiers were left to protect the 
city against any invasion that might be made. 

It was under such circumstances that the older 
gentlemen of the city, recognizing the need of 
Athens in the way of increased military protec- 
tion, resolved to throw themselves into the breach 
and defend their native heath against all comers. 

Thus from their patriotism sprang the "Thun- 
derbolts," a company whose deeds must live in 
order that history may be complete, whose fame, 
though not blazoned to the world in song and 
story, is yet of such a character as to entitle the 
names of its members to be inscribed alongside 
those "that were not born to die." 

The Confederate Congress had enacted a law 
allowing the organization of companies in the 
different cities of the south for the purpose of 
local defense, and the law provided that such 
companies were not to be called into any service 
save that of defending their localties. The wis- 
dom of such a law was at once apparent, for al- 
most any city could muster a company of old 
men, who, if the occasion should arise, could 
fight as bravely as any of the soldiery of the 
south, and in order to protect them against the 



269 



sterner and more exacting duties of the camp 
and the march, the privation of the siege or the 
mortal tedium of the trenches, it was provided 
that they should not be called away from their 
specific localities. 

Under the provisions of this act the Thunder- 
bolts were organized for the defense of Athens, 
after a thorough and profound discussion of the 
matter by all the old gentlemen who desired to 
become members. No record is in existence 
within the knowledge of the writer that would 
give the exact details of the organization, and no 
roster of the company is extant. Yet it is known 
that the rank and file of the company were gent- 
lemen of the old school — men who were distin- 
guished for their many virtues and who had 
carved for themselves their fortune and fame by 
dint of perseverance and ability. 

Colonel John Billups was chosen captain of the 
Thunderbolts. He was a splendid old gentleman 
and an admirable commanding officer, 
able commanding ofiicer. 

Mr. Richard Schevenell, a talented and in- 
trepid Frenchman who had served in the war 
with Mexico, was chosen first lieutenant, and at 
the request of the company acted as drill master 
on account of his having considerable knowledge 
of military tactics. 

As far as can now be obtained the other mem- 
bers of the company were Colonel William L. 



270 



Mitchell, a distinguished lawyer, for whom the 
company was called the Mitchell Thunderbolts ; 
Dr. Henry Hull, father of Mr. Augustus L. Hull, 
of this city ; Mr. William Hope Hull, a 
member of the same distinguished family ; Judge 
Junius Hillyer, an eminent jurist and the father 
of Judge George Hillyer, of Atlanta, and of Mr. 
Carlton Hillyer, of Augusta ; Dr. Edward R. 
Ware, Captain W. H. Dorsey, father of a num- 
ber of our best citizens ; Judge Young L. G. Har- 
ris, for so many years President of the Southern 
Mutual Insurance Company ; Colonel Stevens 
Thomas, for equally as long a time Secretary of 
the same company ; Chancellor Andrew A. Lips- 
comb, of the University of Georgia; Mr. Asbury 
Hull, Mr. John H. Newton, Uncle Jack O'Far- 
rell, Mr. J. W. Medlin, Mr. Elizur L. New- 
ton, Mr. Peter A. Summey, Mr. John Crawford, 
Mr. John Gilleland, Mr. Thomas Bishop, Dr. R. 
D. Moore, Dr. H. R. J. Long, Mr. Patrick Barry, 
and Mr. John Wilson, all of whom were well 
known and highly respected citizens of Athens 
in those days. There were a number of others 
but their names have slipped the memory of the 
present generation just now. 

Lieutenant Schevenell, immediately upon the 
assumption of his duties, perceived the necessity 
of putting the company through all the move- 
ments and evolutions of the regular army drill, 
for although each member was rich in the ex- 



271 



perience of many years of life, all were as little 
children in the science of war. 

So one fine afternoon the "Thunderbolts" were 
drawn up in line on the lot just in front of the 
present residence of Hon. W. J. Morton and 
alongside the campus of the University of Geor- 
gia, and everything was got in readiness to in- 
struct the old gentlemen in the alphabet of war. 

The members of the company did not arrive 
as properly as the precise Frenchman would have 
had them do, but came sauntering along with all 
ease and grace, just as if there was no such 
thing as stern and rigid discipline. Some of 
them brought with them their umbrellas, some 
their newspapers, and nearly all of them their 
spectacles. The sable Prince Albert coat, the 
light and airy alpaca, the common everyday busi- 
ness apparel, all combined to make the assem- 
blage a striking and picturesque one. Some 
came puffing and blowing after a long and dusty 
tramp over the hills of Athens, and here and 
there one dropped in a-straddle of a mule of 
the genuine Georgia variety. 

It took several drills to unlimber the joints and 
train the muscles of the members, but soon they 
were able to take on the regular drill with guns, 
and one evening came fully armed to the parade 
grounds. The guns were of all kinds, some mus- 
kets, some rifles, some shotguns, but all deadly 
looking weapons — warranted to kill on the least 



272 

provocation from a blue coat, The appearance 
of the company may have been a httle off, but 
what the members lacked in uniformity they 
made up in earnestness. 

Lieutenant Schevenell was a hard drill master 
and every now and then one of the members 
would hand his gun to his trusted slave near by, 
take his umbrella, leisurely raise it over his 
heated brow and stand in ranks until disposed to 
take up his gun again. 

As time rolled by the members gained know- 
ledge of military tactics, and it is recorded that 
at nearly every regular drill some member would 
halt the captain or the lieutenant when an order 
was given that didn't seem exactly correct, and 
then there would ensue a heated discussion as to 
the mooted question, for the "Thunderbolts," not 
being subject to any military authority on earth, 
save themselves, fixed their own rules, and one 
of these rules was that each member retained in 
its entirety his individual liberty. The regular 
army might have a court martial, but with the 
"Thunderbolts" each member was the guardian 
and judge of his own conduct. 

As one of the finishing touches Lieutenant 
Schevenell put the company through a kind of 
skirmish drill that required the members to lie 
down on the ground, roll over and fire as they 
went. Such might be fun to the average soldier, 
but to the members of the "Thunderbolts" it wa^ 



273 



the consummation of absurdity as well as an out- 
rage upon their dignity. They rebelled at the 
orders given them and for a while it looked as if 
a regular mutiny would occur, but they were 
finally persuaded to obey the orders. Down on 
the ground went all the members and with guns 
in hand began their dangerous evolutions. The 
scene that followed beggared description. Some 
shot at each other, some at the ground, some at 
the trees and some at the sun. Such an indis- 
criminate mass of rolling humanity was never 
before seen, and when they had completed the 
drill, they vowed they would never try it again, 
and they kept their vow. That drill passes into 
history as the most unique of its kind from the 
days of Joshua to the present time. 

In 1854, Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge cap- 
tured a number of yankees near Athens and 
bi ought them here for safe keeping. 

Here he struck up with the famous "Thunder- 
bolts" and wanted them to guard his prisoners on 
the university campus. Dr. Henry Hull said 
such service was contrary to his habit of life and 
he didn't expect to reverse it ; others said the duty 
of the "Thunderbolts" was to protect Athens 
from invasion and if the yankee prisoners tried 
to fight they would given them a round ; while 
others were perfectly willing to serve as guards 
just for the privilege of pointing their guns at 
the vankees and making them behave themselves. 



274 

It is recorded that Dr. Edward R. Ware would 
sit for hours at a time on the campus fence with 
his gun in hand and make the yankees stretch 
themselves out on the ground and remain per- 
fectly quiet. 

Recorded among the traditions of this com- 
pany is a story to the effect that at a certain mus- 
ter of the company Judge Young L,. G. Harris 
brought down a powder horn that he prized very 
highly, and going to each member, insisted on 
sprinkling his gun with a little of the finest pow- 
der he ever saw, and when the command, "Fire" 
was given, only two guns in the whole lot dis- 
charged. This incident was a standing joke en- 
joyed by Judge Harris as long as he lived. 

There was one hobby upon which all the 
members agreed. They stood squarely upon 
their individual rights and refused to do any- 
thing that they considei^ed ought not to be done. 
So one day when the company was drawn up 
on the parade grounds, Colonel William L. Mit- 
chell came riding along on his pony "Lightning." 
Behind him came his negro with a table on his 
head. Within the table was a large Bible and 
a roster of the company. Everybody wondered 
w4iat was going to happen. 

Old Willis set the table down and laid the 

Bible in the center. Colonel Mitchell took up 

- the roster of the company, asked Captain Billups 

r} to indulge him for just a moment, and then pro- 



275 



ceeded to swear each member to support the con- 
stitution of the Confederate States and the con- 
stitution of Georgia. All the members took the 
czth. but when the name of Private Hillyer was 
reached the gentleman stepped forward and re- 
fused to take the oath, saying that he was al- 
ready a member of the company and that -Piivate 
Mitchell was not armed with the requisite author- 
ity to administer such an oath, as the compan\- 
itself had not passed any order upon that subject, 
and no other authority had a right to control his 
actions. ,,,^^ 

But the culminating outrage on the company 
occurred when General Howell Cobb sent' Cap- 
tain Pope Barrow to Athens, in 1864, to inspect 
tlie "Thunderbolts." The members considered it 
outrageous to be inspected by a mere stripling 
like Barrow, and in addition they maintained that 
tuider, the law of the Confederate Congress, Gen- 
Cx'al Cobb had no jurisdiction over them. 

So, when Captain Barrow arrived in Athens 
and made known his intentions, Dr. Henry Hull 
politely informed him that if he wished to in- 
spect him, he would find him on his front porch at 
his home every morning at 9 o'clock. 

Captain Billups informed Captain Barrow that 
he wished he would disband the old company, as 
it seemed as if General Cobb couldn't let the mem- 
bers live in peace without inflicting such foolish- 



(^JUr^J^ 



276 

ness upon them as the red tape of an army in- 
spection. 

Finally, however, as a courtesy to Captain 
Barrow, and not as any mark of recognition of 
the authority of General Cobb in the matter, the 
company agreed to be inspected. When the time 
approached for the inspection. Private Junius 
Hillyer stepped to the front and read the follow- 
ing salty and solemn protest : 

"Athens, Ga., July 4, 1864. — Dear General: 
I regret that our conversation at the insurance 
office was interrupted before I had an opportu- 
nity of giving you my views about our company, 
and I intended to renew the conversation at 
your house Saturday night, but had no opportu- 
nity of doing so. Permit me to repeat what you 
already know, that the organization of our com- 
pany was the result of a popular movement, 
and was intended to enable us to render such 
service as we had the strength to perform in tho 
defense of our homes. It was never contemplated 
by us that we could by any possibility be brougi.t 
into the Confederate service under the command 
of army officers and subjected to the 'rules and 
articles of war. I took an active part in getting 
up the company ; I urged others to join, assur- 
ing them that what they feared above all things 
v^as, under the clear language of Congress, im- 
possible ; to-wit : that whenever the government 
got a shadow of pretext, all laws and rights 



277 



would be disregarded and we would be forced 
into service. When I found that the governnieiu 
was assuming to take control of us beyond what 
our rules and regulations warranted, I felt called 
upon to make good the assurance which in 
several public speeches I had given to the peo- 
ple. And when I asked that companv ':hat a 
committee might be appointed to ex^.n^iine tiie 
law and report the opinion of the military status 
of the company, and our rights an^I obligations 
under the law^ I only did that which I tliink it 
was, under the circumstances, my duty to do. 

"Without troubling you with an argument, 
may I ask you to permit me, as in a friendly 
conversation, to give you the conclusions arrived 
at by the committee : 

"I. We are not subject to the 'army regu- 
lations.' 

"2. We are not subject to 'the rules and ar- 
ticles of war,' as other volunteer companies are 
expressly declared to be. 

"3. We are not to be called into service. 

"4. We are required to perform no specified 
duty. 

"5. We are organized to defend our locality, 
and we are permitted to do it in our own way — 
according to 'rules and regulations' prescribed 
by ourselves. 

"6. We are an independent company, not re- 
quired • to be attached to any battalion or bri- 



278 



gade, and to be commanded by an officer of our 
own choice, and even its own officers must gov- 
ern the company according to its own rules and 
regulations, 

"If you can find it within the scope of your 
power to issue an order to Colonel Young to 
call on Captain Billups for such service in the 
defense of Athens as he believes his company 
are able to render, you will command for the 
defense of our town the utmost effort within 
the power of the company to make. But any 
attempt to govern us without our consent will in 
my opinion, utterly demoralize our company and 
render it worse than useless. For myself, I 
will say that I had rather see Athens sacked and 
burned than that our company should be forced 
t<-' do any act which they do not choose to do. 
Colonel Young may by force carry us to any 
point he chooses, but all the powers of earth 
can't make us fight nor prevent us from becom- 
ing an- element of absolute weakness. If the 
course is adopted of requiring any service of us 
beyond what we choose to render I shall feel 
that I have been an instrvmient of deceiving 
others. We have been entrapped into the Con- 
federate service, which we never intended to 
enter except so far as we chose to act. 

"We do not wish to be disbanded. We only 
ask that we may be permitted to do what the 
act of Congress authorizes us to do; to defend 



279 



our town in such a way as we think is within 
our strength. Your suggestion that our remedy 
is to prefer charges against the officer who 
abuses his power is not adequate. We are too 
old and feeble for that; we will sink under the 
wrong. Our patriotism brought us together ; 
upon that the country may safely rely. But it 
can gain nothing by any degree of force that 
may be brought to bear against us. We may 
be destroyed but nothing good can be got from 
us against our consent. 

"General, I have given you very briefly the 
views entertained by our company with almost 
entire unanimity. In a conversation I might have 
enlarged and amplified a good deal upon the 
question so as to make our views stronger. We 
make no point upon you nor upon Colonel 
Young. Our position is one of principle. Very 
respectfully, your friend, 

JUNIUS HILLYER." 

Soon after this occasion the starry cross sank 
tc its last defeat at Appomattox. The Thunder- 
bolts laid aside their weapons with which they 
had armed themselves for local defense and 
throughout the years of reconstruction gave 
loyal and worthy service to Athens and to the 
state. 

One by one they have entered rest and now 
they have all pitched their tents upon the camp- 



280 

ins: ground of eternity. The storv of their con- 
nection with this unique niihtar\^ organization 
always was the source of much merriment and en- 
joyment to them as they recalled the funnv 
scenes and incidents of those days. 

Yet with all the fun and humorous situations, 
with all their dignity and personal liberty, who 
will rise up and say that, had the occasion ar- 
rived for action and the necessity arisen for 
fighting, they would not have fought as bravely 
as any soldiers who, throughout that ensanguined 
struggle, followed the leadership of the knightlv 
Jackson or the peerless Lee? 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Mr. John Gilleland, one of the Thunderbolts, 
conceived the idea of making a double-barrelled 
cannon. His plan was to load the cannon with 
two balls connected by a chain, which when pro- 
jected would sweep across the battlefield and mow 
down the enemy somewhat as a scythe cuts wheat. 
The cannon was cast at the Athens Foundry, duly 
bored out and mounted, and on the appointed day 
was taken for its trial trip on the Newton's Bridge 
road beyond Dr. Linton's. A wide track was 
cut through the pines and a target of poles set up 
side by side. A company of interested specta- 
tors, among them the writer, watched the pro- 
ceedings from a safe distance in the rear. The 



281 



gun was loaded and the balls rammed home with 
their connecting chain. The signal was given, 
and the lanyard pulled. One ball went out ahead 
oi' the other, snapped the chain, which flew 
around and diverted the course of the missile 
into the standing pines. The other shot wide of 
the mark, and the poles which represented the 
liostile army stood uninjured. The experiment 
was a failure. The cannon was taken from the 
field, and was only used in after years to cele- 
brate Democratic victories. It stands now near 
the Confederate monument, the onl}- weapon of 
its kind in the world. 

In this connection it may be remarked, Athens 
i.^ the only city in the world which has a double- 
barrelled cannon, a tree which owns itself, and 
a fire engine which got burned up. The last was 
the old "Independence," afterwards christened 
"Relief No. 2," the first engine we ever had, 
which had been turned over to the negroes, and 
did good service under Capt. Randall Morton 
and Capt. Mat Davis. While quietly reposing in 
a wooden shed one night it was burned with the 
shed before any of the company suspected its 
danger. 

The aforesaid tree stands at the foot of Dear- 
ing Street, and is a magnificent white oak. The 
following is taken from a paper now many years 
old: "There is a tree at Athens, Ga., which 



282 



i.^ a property holder. In the early part of the 
century the land on which it stands was owned by 
Col. W. H. Jackson, who took great delight in 
watching its growth and enjoying its shade. 
In his old age the tree had reached magnificent 
proportions, and the thought of its being des- 
troyed by those who would come after him 
was so repugnant that he recorded a deed, of 
which the following is part : "I, W. H. Jack- 
son, of the County of Clarke, State of Georgia 
of the one part, and the oak tree, (giving the 
location) of the County of Clarke of the other 
part, witness, that the said W. H. Jackson, for 
and in consideration of the great affection which 
he bears said tree, and his desire to see it protect- 
ed, has conveyed, and by these presents does con- 
vey unto the said oak tree entire possession of 
itself, and of the land within eight feet of it on 
all sides." 

However defective this title may be in law, the 
public recognized it, and this splendid tree is one 
of the boasts of Athens and will be cared for bv 
the city for many years to come. A generous 
friend to xA.thens, in order to show his interest 
ir this unique freeholder, has at his own expense, 
placed around the tree granite posts connected 
by chains, replaced the earth which the storms 
of a century have washed from its roots, and 
neatly sodded the inclosed area with erass. 



283 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 

The negro was such a factor in war times 
that I cannot refrain from giving him his due 
here. He was the immediate cause of the war 
on both sides, that is to say if there had been 
no negro slaves at the South the war would 
have waited another generation at least. 

There is such a vast amount of ignorance 
among the younger people who never knew what 
slavery at the South was, that I am tempted to 
relate what came under my own observation at 
home. 

I was a lad when Georgia seceded, only old 
enough to take part in the last six months of 
hostilities, but at an age when impressions are 
most vivid and details are fixed in the memory 
for life. It was my father's daily habit to ride 
on horseback to his plantation, overlooking and 
directing the work, hearing the report of the 
overseer and listening to the complaints and pe- 
titions of the negroes. 

At the home place in town there were four 
families, comprising sixteen negroes. Two wom- 
en — one aged — were cooks, one was the laun- 
dress, one the nurse, three sempstresses, a house- 
maid, a carriage driver who was also the gar- 
dener, a one-legged general utility man and a 
lot of children. In addition to these my sister 
had a maid, mv older brother a valet. Fou'- 



284 

negroes were hired out. Two excellent carpen- 
ters were hired by the month, my father feedini;' 
and clothing them ; two were hired to the Rail - 
road company as firemen, and a woman as house- 
maid to a Northern family residing in Athens. 

Our own family consisted of four adults and 
three children. It will be seen then that we 
all had plenty of waiting on. Indeed on looking 
back at the number of servants it seems a wonder 
that there was any development of character in 
those days or any promotion of energy. As to 
that however, the history of these same people 
for the next decade will answer. But with s'- 
n^any servants there was no idling away the 
time. There was no busier woman than m\' 
mother. She was out in the morning before 
breakfast giving instructions for pruning fruit 
trees or planting seeds, or cultivating or gather- 
ing vegetables each in its season. After break- 
fast work was cut out for the sempstresses, 
an intervievv^ with the cook was held, the work 
of the housemaid inspected, or arrangements 
were made for pickling and preserving or put- 
ting up meat for the year. But this was not all. 
The young girls must be taught to sev/, and the 
plantation hands must be provided with clothes. 
All this material passed through the housewife's 
hands. She was the dispenser of food, clothing 
and medicine for a large family of dependents 
whose claims and duties absorbed her waking 
hours. 



285 



On the plantation each family of negroes had 
its own home. The mother cooked and made the 
clothes for the family, they ate together at their 
own table and had their personal belongings. 
The unattached single men had their rations 
cooked for them. The plantation was a com- 
munity itself. One man who had been injured 
made and mended the shoes and harness. Nearly 
all supplies were made on the place ; wheat 
corn, syrup and tobacco for man and ample 
grain and forage for beast. 

There was fruit in abundance and every negro 
had his "watermelon patch." The hours for 
work were from "sun up' to "sun down," with 
an hour for dinner. The negroes never com- 
plained of work. They were always cheerful 
when well. Sometimes the overseer reported one 
as idle to my father and a reprimand followed. 
1 do not remember my father to have whipped 
a negro but once, and then he was requested to 
do it. 'Jim Wood" had been guilty of some mis- 
demeanor and had the option of being whipped 
by the overseer or the town marshal. It was 
considered a disgrace by a self-respecting negro 
to be whipped by the overseer, and Jim dreaded 
the stout arm of the marshal, so he asked as a 
special favor that "Mas Henry" would whip 
him, promising the most irreproachable conduct 
in future if he would. He got ofif with a light 
punishment. There was in fact, very little whip- 



286 

ping of slaves when we consider that they were 
like untutored children and subject to like pas- 
sions as we are without the strength of character 
to resist temptation. One of the boys a little old- 
er than myself was my playmate. He was not 
whipped half so often as my mother whipped 
me, and he was not so good a boy, either. 

My father never sold but one of his negroes. 
I well remember the occasion. Bart, one of the 
plantation hands, came in one night on a pass, 
(every negro had a pass at night to escape ar- 
rest and detention. I have written hundreds of 
them "Let Sam pass. H. Hull.") and said, "Mas 
Henry, I've had a fuss with my daddy, and I 
can't stay on the plantation no longer wid him. 
I want you to sell me." His daddy was the fore- 
man on the field. My father enquired into the 
trouble and told Bart to stay in town the next 
day and think better of it. The next night he 
still asked that he be sold. My father told him 
to go and find a new master. When Bart came 
back he said: "Mas' John says he'll buy me." 
"Mas' John" was my brother in law. So Bart 
was sold to him and made him a faithful servant 
until he was freed. 

There was no effort at missionary work among 
the negroes in the country that I remember. In 
the town were two churches for negroes, one 
Baptist and the other Methodist, both served 
by white preachers. The negroes from t he 



287 



country within reach came regularly to them. 
But the servants were trained in habits of virtue 
and gentility, and several of them could read. 
Not one of our negro women gave birth to a 
bastard child. Three of them, handsome mu- 
latto girls born in wedlock of mulatto parents, 
grew up virtuous and respectable women, and are 
now mothers of families standing among the 
first of their class. 

My father inherited five negroes from his 
mother. They were all of one family, about his 
own age and lived with him for sixty years. 
The warmest affection existed between them and 
he bought the wife of one and the husbands of 
the two women that they might be together. The 
other two men were the carpenters referred to 
whose wives were servants in the town. These 
negroes became the forebears of large families, 
and their prepotency is shown to this day in then- 
descendants in the fourth generation. One of 
them, a noisy, good natured fellow, was jocu- 
larly threatened with arrest, when he said : 
"Look here, boss, don't you know who I is? 
I'm one of dem Hull niggers." 

The care of slaves was a burden to a conscien- 
tious man, and my father regarded the possession 
of his as a trust to be administered as a divinely 
imposed duty. It was only by the most careful 
management that the income of their labor could 
be made to pay their expenses. There was no 



288 

business except planting at whicli negro labor 
could be made profitable, and it is not every man 
who can manage a plantation with success. \>ry 
manv lost money year after year in the endeavor 
to support their negroes and could only recoup 
by selling one or two of them. 

The Southern man will not therefore be 
thought insincere when he says he is glad that 
slavery is at an end, and that emancipation was a 
greater relief to the master than to the slave. 

The conduct of the negroes during the four 
years of the war of secession is a monument to 
the fidelity of the race. When we recall the con- 
ditions which existed in the South we cannot 
believe that any other race of men would have 
made such a record as the negro. Every able 
bodied man was in the army. None were left 
but the aged, the infirm and the diseased. Even 
the boys had gone. On many plantations there 
was not a white male. The whole South believed 
the North was fighting to free the slave and the 
negro believed it as well. And yet faithful to 
his master and his duty, he worked as he had 
always done, providing food and clothing for 
the family and guarding his mistress and their 
children with jealous care from every intrusion. 

The negro when justly treated learned to lovc 
his master. He looked up to him as his protec- 
tor, guide and friend. There were comparatively 
few cases of harsh treatment of the neero bv his 



289 

iiiaster, and those were attributable always to 
the temper of the man. There are men who 
treat their wives and daughters with outrageous 
cruelty and the same men would be cruel to their 
slaves. No man with that sense of honor which 
impels him to protect a woman was ever harsh 
to his slave. And in this relation there grew up 
an affection, strong and confiding on the part of 
the negro, compassionate on the part of the mas- 
ter, which abided until death. I am speaking 
now of those negroes who came into personal 
acquaintance with their masters. There were 
some plantations with hundreds of negroes con- 
trolled by an overseer. Between these there 
could be no affection. 

The negro claimed an ownership in everything 
on the place. It was "our" cotton and "our" 
cows. My father's riding horse was "Mas Hen- 
ry's horse, but the carriage was "our" carriage, 
and the team was "our horses." He was so 
identified with his master that his master's in- 
terests were his interests. It is not strange that 
during the war he spoke of "dem Yankees" and 
how "we whipped 'em" in one battle, or "dey 
beat us" in another. It was esteemed a great 
privilege to be selected as body servant to accom- 
pany the master to the army. A young negro 
who had been given to me by my fother always 
looked forward to the time when he should go 
with me to the armv. But when that time ca'.u.- 



290 

the day of body-servants had passed and it was 
'nip and tuck" for the soldier to find food foi 
himself. 

It was a mortification to a negro to belong to -j. 
"poor" man, that is, one below in the social scale. 
Wealthier men were frequently approached bv 
such negroes with the request that they would 
buy them. This was a natural ambition, since 
they would fare better and stand better among 
their fellows. I have still in my family the 
woman who belonged to my wife's father and 
nursed her when a child. She even now speaks 
of "niggers that have no raisin'. They belonged 
to po' white folks." As for the man who was 
too poor to own a negro they looked with inef- 
fable contempt on such "po' white trash." 

As the war progressed the comforts of livinc;- 
decreased. The carriage horses gave way to 
mules ; the linen went to the hospitals ; the gen- 
erous table was scantily supplied wnth corn bread, 
bacon and vegetables. Sorghum syrup took the 
place of sugar and parched potatoes were substi- 
tuted for cofifee. The garments for the family 
were made from cotton raised on the plantation, 
spun and woven by the women. Home made 
clothing and home made shoes and home made 
bonnets replaced the products of fofeign mar- 
kets. The sick were treated with stews and 
broths and root teas. In these privations the 
negro shared — cheerfully and without complaint. 



291 



Many a delicate woman went hungry in those 
days. Her negroes also went hungry, but they 
did not complain to her. There was everywhere 
that patient submission to whatever the day 
might bring forth so characteristic of the race. 

The confidence reposed in some of the negroes 
by their masters was almost unlimited. When 
the Federal army was making its way through 
Georgia and a raid on Athens Avas expected, my 
mother got all her silver and fine cutlery together 
and a small keg of fine brandy which she was 
saving for some unknown occasion, and gave it 
to old Billy to hide away, none but she and Billy 
knew where. All were safely recovered except 
the brandy. Billy said that had "leaked some." 
It was believed to be a case of Bro' Rabbit and 
the butter, but Billy was never told so. 

The emancipation proclamation of J\Ir. Lin- 
coln had no effect on the negroes at the time, al- 
though they were generally told of it. After the 
surrender of General Johnston there came a bri- 
gade of Federal cavalry in search of Mr. Davis. 
It was the signal for the disruption of the old 
regime. My father called up the hands on the 
plantation and told them they were now free 
and must take care of themselves ; if they chose 
they might remain on the place until they should 
decide what to do. The efifect wa>. curious. The 
younger men left at once to enjoy their new 
found freedom with a happy-go-lucky lack of 



292 



forethongiit, not knowing wlicrt they were tt) get 
their suppers. The men with families remain; d. 
The realization that no more rations would be 
issued to them, that the_\' had no longer a home 
and the feeling that the fnei'd wh) hac' though:*- 
for them and planned for them all tlieir lives 
had now cast them off saddened and iip.esesd 
them. 

At the home in town the negroes had aheadv 
heard the news. Some one said to the old rook. 
"x\unt Betty, don't you know you 3ri fiee':"'" 
'"Mas' Henry ain't told me so yit," she replied. 
When my father told her she replied "it <ion'i" 
make no difference to me," and it didn't. She 
lived with every comfort, cooking for the family 
until she laid down and died. Of the other ne- 
groes the sempstress and her daughters moved off 
the lot into a little house belonging to my father, 
getting enough work to support them. The 
nurse and her family moved away to another part 
of the town where they were not so comfortable 
but felt less restraint. ^The carriage driver got 
employment with a livery stable. One of the car- 
penters died of smallpox, that scourge of the ne- 
gioes after the war, but old Billy insisted on 
sticking to his master who supported him, and 
took to making tubs and buckets for ready cash 
to buy his dram and tobacco. 

One of the plantation hands came to my father 
to buy a piece of land. When he came at night — 



293 



all their visits were made at night — he took out 
a little bag and emptied on the table fifty dollars 
or more in every conceivable coin that would 
pass. There were Mexican dollars and Spanish 
dollars, thrips and dimes, sixpence and copper 
cents, ha' pennies and quarters. He had been 
saving them for years doubtless with a vague 
idea of some day buying his freedom. Old Un- 
cle Mike who was foreman on the plantation, a 
man of unusual intelligence, and who had been my 
father's playmate, bought on credit a few acres 
about two miles away and built him a rude cabin 
and moved into it. He worked hard all the rest 
of his days and had very few comforts. When 
the first election occurred my father met Mike 
coming into town to vote. He undertook to 
explain the situation to him and advised him. 
He said, "Mike, you have known me all your 
life. Don't you believe I would tell you what is 
right?" "Yes, Mas Henry, I know what you say 
is right." But he voted the other way all the 
same. The negroes were told that their masters 
would put them back into slavery unless they 
would vote with the Republicans and the 
question admitted of no argument with them. 
Yet they would consult their old masters on evers- 
other subject and always come to them for help 
in time of trouble. 

In spite of the bitterness which those infamous 
reconstruction days engendered between whites 



294 



and blacks, the love and affection of the intli- 
vidual never waned. From the youngest to the 
oldest whenever they met "Mas Henry" or any 
member of the family, the eye yould light up and 
a smile of welcome come over the face. And at 
his burial after many years they came from a 
rcidius of ten miles around to look once more on 
the face of him who had ever a kindly word for 
them. A year ago the last of the old negroes 
died. Many a time she had baked me a hoecake 
and brought fresh butter and sweet milk from the 
cool drywell when I came in weary from a tramp 
over the plantation. When I met her last with 
a clean bandanna bound about her head and a 
vrhite kerchief crossed upon her bosom, she drop- 
ped me an old time courtesy and said: "How 
d'ye my young master." I thought then, and I 
believe now that I shall not see her like ever 
again. 

CHAPTER XXXVni. 

In the spring of 1865 the blight of four years 
of desolating war lay upon the South. Lonely 
chimneys stood sentinel over the ashes of the 
home; fences had been burned, groves cut down, 
gardens trampled; new made graves were scat- 
tered all over the land. The remnants of the 
companies that had gone out so proudly step- 
ping to the music of drum and fife, soldiers oi:' 



295 



Lee and Johnston, came straggling in by rail, 
on foot and horse, ragged, footsore, emacia- 
ted with hunger or disease, forlorn, bringing 
poverty to want, to find their business destroyed, 
their people paupers, but proud still and with un- 
conquered spirit. The sun shone brightly, and 
the birds no longer the sportsmen's prey, sang 
blythely over the scene in strange contrast to 
the pall of sorrow which hung over the widow 
and the orphan, and the hunger- and hopeless 
ness which had set their mark upon every face. 

In the general desolation the town of Athens 
had escaped. In her isolated position she seemed 
secure from the torch of the invader. The in- 
vading foe had not come in sight of her spires. 
Neither fire nor pestilence had visited her. Ref- 
ugees from every Southern state had sought 
safety here and had found repose in her hos- 
pitality. She was an oasis in the desert track of 
a ruthless fate. 

But though in contrast with the surrounding 
distress she presented so bright a picture, 
what was the real condition of this little town 
and what had four years of war's privation left 
h.er? A few old men, some chronic invalids, a 
dozen soldiers maimed for life, a few citizens 
exempt from military service, a lot of half 
grown boys, and women sorrowing for their 
dead and struggling to support life. The older 
boys, the seed corn, had gone into the army ; the 



296 



younger ones demoralized, dragged their unwil- 
ling steps to school and looked forward to the day 
when tliey too could enlist. Bright girls in 
homespun or perhaps in mourning for the lost, 
went to and fro on errands of duty or mercy. 

The streets were unlighted, washed into gullies 
or overgrown with grass. No new houses had 
been built, no old ones repaired. Broken win- 
dows were covered with paper, broken fences 
propped with stakes. One marshal preserved 
the peace. One train a day brought an ill-printed 
v.^eekly paper or a week old copy of a daily, 
which contained the "news.' There was com- 
plete stagnation in business. A desultory coun- 
try trade was done under the old firm names of 
Grady & Nicholson, Sansom & Pittard. Pitner 
& England. T. Bishop & Son and L. P. Hoover 
sold family groceries ; F. W. Lucas and T. PI. 
Wilson dealt in dry goods ; Mrs. T. A. Adams 
retrimmed the ladies' old hats ; P. A. Summey 
offered the remains of an antebellum stock of 
hardware ; Hodgson Bros, mended the old car- 
riage, and W. P. Talmage shod the family horse ; 
William N. White occupied the book store cor- 
ner while Mr. Vonderlieth and his excellent wife 
provided the fashionable clothing of the day for 
both sexes. But all the merchants dealt in every- 
thing from fruit to frying pans. A one-horse 
wagon would have held the entire stock of anv 



297 



one of them. The factories and mills alone 
showed any sign of life — the one wearing out its 
spindles and looms to supply the demand for 
thread and cloth, the other grinding the toll of 
corn and wheat to give the people bread. 

The old town hall no longer rang with the 
stirring eloquence of the past. Underneath, its 
calaboose sometimes detained a truant negro, 
while the adjoining market smelled to heaven 
with sour and flyblown beef. Trout & Glow- 
er dispensed skins and steaks at this attractive 
place, while Joe Keno, tired of the hardships 
of an army cook, and claiming his citizenship 
in France, delivered his lamb and kid which 
sometimes was dog, at the kitchen door. 

The faithful slave alone remained unchanged. 
Simple, obedient and cheerful he pursued the 
even tenor of his way with unquestioned faith 
in his master and with nought but contempt 
for "dem Yankees." Factory thread was the me- 
dium of exchange in large transactions. Con- 
federate money had lost its value and dollar 
bills were only good in peanut trades. There 
were rumors of certain folks having somewhere 
hid aw'ay a hundred dollars in gold, but such ex- 
travagancies were not generally believed. 

It is strange with universal destitution star- 
ing them in the face that the Southern people 
should have still hoped for success ; and so in 
Athens the news of Lee's surrender was re- 



298 



ceived with that dumb amazement which might 
foHow the going out of the sun at noon. 

The confirmation of the surrender of Lee and 
Johnston was followed by the feeling of relief 
that the war was over. The knowledge that ail 
had been done that could be done, their pride in 
the Southern soldier though surrendered; the 
welcoming his return on every hand took away 
the keen edge of defeat from the South. The 
balmy days of spring, the restful feeling of being 
home to stay, no reveille, no forced march, no 
night attacks, no shrieking shell, no ping of the 
minie ball followed by a thud and the fall of a 
comrade ; this blessed repose took away for the 
time every regret that the labors of the past four 
years had come to worse than nought. 

And so we entered upon a new life. 

A quantity of Confederate commissary stores 
had been placed in what is now Eppes-Wilkins 
store, under the charge of Major John W. Nich- 
olson, a government officer. When it was evi- 
oent that the Federals would fall heir to these 
supplies a crowd of returned soldiers, boys and 
negroes opened the house and sacked it. Bolts 
of cloth, salt, tin kettles and pans, bacon and 
leather were appropriated and carried off. As 
a matter of course this could not be done with- 
out friction, in the way it was done. There were 
several fights, and a soldier shot old George, the 
negro shoemaker belonging to Dr. Joe Carlton, 



299 

breaking his jaw bone and spoiling for life the 
symmetry of his face and his articulation. From 
this raid the youths of Athens obtained white 
flannel enough to clothe them for the summer, 
and flannel suits became the popular fad. 

For a few months anarchy reigned, but with- 
out disorder. The laws were in force without 
anyone to enforce them. Judges, sheriffs and 
other officers were disqualified until they had 
taken the oath. The only exercise of autocratic 
authority during the hiatus was the issuance by 
Thomas Crawford, a leftover postmaster of the 
Confederacy, of a private postage stamp bear- 
ing his name, and one of these stamps is now 
valued at far more than the entire salary of the 
postmaster then amounted to. • 

In the meantime a brigade of Federal cavalry 
under General Palmer — not the one who ran for 
President — in search of Mr. Davis, invaded the 
town, sweeping everything before them . In 
spite of the terms of surrender the Georgia Rail- 
road train was thrown from the track and plun- 
dered, smokehouses were rifled, houses forcibly 
entered and robbed, jewelry and valuables of 
every kind stolen and the best of the horses ta- 
ken in exchange for broken down animals. 
Ladies were stopped on the streets and the 
horses taken from their carriages. Gentlemen 
were robbed in the open air. One respected citi- 



300 



zen was told to deliver his watch. Surprised and 
indignant he was thrown olT his guard and said 
"I have no watch." "Don't tell a lie. I see it 
in your pocket," said the soldier, and proceeded 
to appropriate it. 

General Palmer had his headquarters in the 
house where Air. Henry Hull lived, now the 
Imperial Hotel. It is fair to him to say that he 
did all he could to protect the citizens and to 
restore their stolen property. It was our first 
experience with the Yankee, and when he bid us 
adieu he left an abiding impression which w ill 
never fade from our remembrance. 

The following extract from a letter received 
from Mrs. P. H. Mell to the writer about these 
days will be interesting to the reader : 

"The Federal troops came to Athens Thurs- 
day, May 4th, 1865. They came without a note 
of warning. We were at school ; Miss Lipscomb 
was called hurriedly from the room about ten 
o'clock. Of course we suspected something 
wrong, and rushed to the windows, although this 
was forbidden, and to our utter horror saw the 
street in front of the Lucy Cobb full of blue- 
coats. I will never forget my terror. Miss 
Lipscomb came in very cjuietly and with no emo- 
tion (but with a very pale face) she dismissed 
the school. She arranged us in bands for our 
mutual protection and sent us home. Because 
I lived in the country (where the Country Club 



301 



i'"; now) and would liave to go home alone, she 
advised me to accept Susie Hill's invitation, and 
I went home with her and spent Thursday and 
Friday. On Saturday things were more quiet, 
and my father came for me in the carriage and I 
returned home. I remember well the incidents 
of those days. Ed and Jim Thomas returned 
Thursday from their command and stayed with 
Mrs. Hill for our protection ; Welborn Hill was 
also there. 

The Federals took possession of the Watch- 
man office, and issued on Saturday-, May 6th, an 
extra which they sent to all subscribers. I have 
a copy of it now, preserved through the thought- 
fulness of my father. It is very funny, for it 
represents the editor as writing the most dread- 
ful things about the South. It also gives ficti- 
tious extracts from the Carolina Spartan and 
Salisbury Watchman to the same efifect. The 
next issue the editor took charge again, and it 
was truly amusing to read his earnest denial of 
everything that the extra made him say. I give 
the following extract from the extra, which will 
prove that my dates are correct : 'The Federal 
forces under the command of Brig. Gen. Palmer 
entered our place on the 4tH inst. The conduct 
of the troops since their occupation of the town 
has been good, and reflects great credit upon 
General Palmer as a strict disciplinarian. We 
hope that our citizens will endeavor by kind 



302 



treatment towards the soldiery to encourage a 
continuance of the protection which they seem 
willing to afford.' People in Athens who re- 
member how those soldiers behaved on Thurs- 
day and Friday will regard the above extract as 
bitter irony." Very truly, 

Annie W. Mell. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

In May 1865 a garrison entered the town, 
taking up quarters in the college chapel and 
dormitories, and Capt. A. B. Cree of the Iowa 
troops assumed command as Provost Marshal, 
with headquarters in the Phi Kappa Hall. A 
few weeks later he was superceded by Major 
]\I. S. Buen of the New York volunteers. It is 
but just to these officers to say that they did 
everything they could to maintain order in the 
town. They gave no encouragement to the negro 
to abuse his newly gotten freedom. Capt. Cree 
made a speech to a large crowd of negroes who 
had gathered from town and country, in which 
he told them that freedom did not mean license 
to steal or loaf upon the streets, and that so 
long as he was in command labor should not be 
taxed to support idleness. He advised them to 
go to their homes and work for their former 
masters for such wages as they would pay them. 
His address had a salutary effect upon the freed- 



303 



men for the time, but the dehghts of freedom and 
the immunity from work were met by demands 
from the inner man which were most easily sat- 
isfied by nocturnal raids upon the henhouse. The 
facility which develops with practice made thiev- 
ing a popular business, and in one week 150 
negroes were arrested for stealing. Some odd 
penalties were devised by the Provost Marshal 
for these criminals. Some were tied up by the 
thumbs standing tiptoe. One young negro, a ' 
well known character, Mose Rumney by name, 
was taken and one side of his head shaven clean 
from the middle line down, the wool being left 
untouched on the other side. A barrel with sleeve 
holes cut in it was slipped over his head, and on 
ii. the words "I am a thief" plainly painted. 
Another negro was similarly treated, and the 
pair were thus marched through the streets with 
a fife and drum to the tune of the "Rogues' 
March," a file of soldiers following and a hila- 
rious crowd of boys and negroes surrounding 
them. At another time four negroes were made 
to stand each on an upturned barrel for twelve 
hours from six in the morning till six in the 
evening with placards hung from their necks — 
one with "I will steal," and his companion "I 
will too." A guard with a musket prevented 
any attempt to escape or even to sit down. 

There was a widespread belief among the ne- 
groes that at Christmas all the land was to be 



304 

divided out among them and each negro to be 
given tortv acres and a mule. Awaiting thi> 
generous Christmas gift they were indisposed to 
hire themselves, and the coming of winter gave 
promise of much destitution among them. In- 
deed, so well assured were they of the promised 
division that General Tilson came from Augusta 
to deny it and addressed a mass meeting of ne- 
groes on the campus, advising them to go to 
work and telling them that the expected mule 
and the acres would not be forthcomning. 

The relations between the citizens and the sol- 
diers were not cordial. The ladies would cross 
the streets to avoid meeting a Yankee and if one 
could not escape she would draw her skirts aside 
as she passed, as if he were some foul and 
loathsome thing. The young men of spirit re- 
sented the authority assumed by the military, 
and walked about with chips on their shoulders. 

A proclamation was published by the Provost 
Marshal recjuiring. 

1. That paroled officers and men non-resi- 
dents should leave the town in twenty four 
hours. 

2. That any person found on the streets af- 
ter June 3rd dressed in the so-called Confederate 
uniform wouuld be arrested and tried for mis- 
demeanor. 

3. That all firearms and ammunition should 
be delivered to the Provost Marshal unless spe- 



305 



cial permission was given in writing to retain 
them. 

Later all permits were revoked and all horses 
and mules with the U. S. or C. S. A. brand 
were required to be reported to the Provost Mar- 
shal. There were no mails, and all letters had to 
go through the Marshal's office. The ladies es- 
pecially objected to this order, and some of the 
girls were known to fumigate their letters be- 
fore opening them. The attitude of the North 
toward Mr. Davis and the requests from dis- 
charged Federal soldiers to President Johnston 
to be allowed to hang him, the rec[uests accom- 
panied with sundry coils of rope to be used at 
his execution — all irritated our people to exas- 
peration. 

In Richmond a woman could not be married 
without taking the oath of allegiance. A little 
mcident recalled to mind shows the sentiment 
towards the Federals. Major Euen had a fast 
horse which he used to drive to a buggy with a 
good deal of style. One day he drove up to a 
store on Broad street, jumped out of his buggy 
and saying to Jim Saye who was sitting by the 
door, "Watch my horse until I come out," went 
into the store. Some mischievous fellow nearby 
clucked to the horse and olT he went up the 
street. Euen came running out and said to Saye 
"I thought I told you to watch my horse.' 
"Well," said Jim in his slow way, "I— did—watch 



306 

-him— iintil~he~went~aromid the corner, —and 
I— couldn't— see him— anymore— then." 

While there was some friction only one diffi- 
culty occurred. One of the soldiers when off 
duty had some words with John Billups and 
Bernard Franklin. George Mason took part in 
it, and knocked the Yankee down. The soldier 
called his friends and went for satisfaction. 
There was a rally of the old Confederates and 
some shooting was done on College avenue, but 
nobody was hurt except Ed O'Farrell, who was 
shot in the side by Robert Moore, one of our 
own men. A squad of soldiers was sent out from 
the barracks which dispersed the citizens and ar- 
rested the Yankees. 

In response to a request from Dr. Lipscomb, 
General Steadman evacuated the buildings on the 
campus so that they could be put in order for 
the reopening of the College, and transferred 
the garrison to the Rock College. The removal 
of the soldiers from daily contact with the citi- 
zens had a salutary efifect, and while they re- 
mained there was no further trouble. The chapel 
was left in a woeful condition. The benches had 
been burned, the windows smashed, the walls 
jabbed with bayonets and the old columns made 
a target for pistol shots, pleasant reminders of 
the late tenants. 

The University was once in the possession of 
the archives of the Confederate Executive. An 



307 



officer in whose charge they had been placed, 
coming to Athens in 1865 and anxious to be rid 
of them, turned them over to Chancellor Lips- 
comb to be held for the University — neither of 
them appreciating their ultimate value. When 
Mr. Davis was threatened with trial for 
treason, it was believed by some of his friends 
that the Executive documents would be evidence 
in his favor, and upon their advice the papers 
were delivered to General Wilson upon his re- 
ceipt to be deposited with the proper authorities 
in Washington. It is presumed that they are 
now there. 

The summer of 1865, if I remember aright, 
was marked by two accidents — one fatal, the 
other almost so. Ed Talmage, a son of William 
P. Talmage, was bathing in the river above 
the lower bridge with other boys. A quarrel 
took place, when Jim Kittle picked up a shot 
gun lying by and poured the load into Talmage 
killing him instantly. Kittle fled and did not re- 
turn for many years. The other accident hap- 
pened to Thomas M. Daniel, who was riding in 
a buggy when the mule ran away. Daniel at- 
tempted to jump out from behind, and was 
thrown to the ground near the Methodist church 
upon his head, from which he never recovered 
entirely. 

The travelling to and fro of returned soldiers 
and freed negroes scattered smallpox broadcast 



308 



over the South. It appeared in Athens in the 
Slimmer of 1865 and though strenuous efforts 
were made to stamp it out, 180 cases were re- 
ported by Dr. Moore, who had charge of the 
liospitals, of which ten cases died. Among these 
v.ere Robert Gardner, a well known printer, 
John Yarborough, and two negroes, Davy Hull 
and Ned Holbrooks, both of whom were highly 
esteemed by all the white people. 

John Yarborough was one of the worst men 
wdio ever cursed a community. He had sounded 
all the depths of every form of vice and deprav- 
ity. He was by turns a gambler, a barkeeper, a 
niggertrader, a proprietor of a disreputable 
house, a drunkard and a thief. Smart and ac- 
tive he attracted young men only to debauch 
them as the candle attracts the poor moth only 
to leave it blackened and disfigured. His most 
notorious den was the "Forks of the Road," just 
tliis side of the Normal School, and in the nightly 
orgies which distinguished it he defied the laws 
of the State as well as the moral sentiment of the 
town. He deserted his wife and consorted w'ith 
? gang, amongst whom when stricken by the 
fatal malady he died miserably, rotting it is said, 
i^diile he was yet alive. 

With all their resources dissipated, business of 
every kind destroyed, their circulating medium 
rendered valueless, our people had to begin at the 
bottom to make a living. Cotton, which except 



309 



iii the Federal lines had been almost unsalable 
now became a marketable commodity in active 
demand at 43 cents per pound. It was the sal- 
vation of the South as it was afterwards almost 
its curse. Everybody who could command cred- 
it bought cotton. Ninety per cent of the people 
began planting cotton. The returned soldiers re- 
paired the old fence and with his cavalry horse, 
or some old mule which the Yankees had left 
behind, or in lieu of better, an ox, bedded the 
land and planted his crop. 

This gave him a start. The stock of cotton 
which had accumulated for want of purchasers 
now became a mine of gold for the owners and 
an alluring temptation to the speculators. Fort- 
unately it brought ready money enough into the 
community to set the wheels of trade and manu- 
facture in motion again. 

To meet its own expenses the town of Athens 
issued $5,000 in promisory nofes. The National 
Bank of Athens was organized, with Henry 
Hull, Jr., President, and F. W. Adams Cashier. 
Several new firms began business ; E. B. and J. 
Cohen, from Charleston, Childs & Nickerson. 
Nicholson, Reaves & Co., Lucas & Bearing and 
Huggins &"Dobbs. Col. Huggins had distin- 
guished himself in the battle of Olustee, and Col. 
Dobbs was a returned Kentucky soldier. 

The Southern Express Company refitted the 
telegraph line to Union Point, which it operated 



310 



for several years until it became a part of the 
Western Union. 

The influx of new money was attended by un- 
settled values and rapid fluctuations of prices. 
Cotton would vary as much as two cents in 
twenty-four hours, and the difference between 
New York and Athens quotations was from lo 
to 13 cents. It brought the extravagant price of 
43 cents a pound in July 1865. In January 1866 
it was 40 and in February 35. Bacon was then 
25 cents, corn $1.75. flour $18 per barrel, and 
this was in greenbacks. While a farmer saw that 
with one mule, on average land he could raise 
five bales of cotton, which would bring him $900 
in cash, none need be surprised that the whole 
South went wild with the idea. The value of cot- 
ton lands appreciated, mules were bought in the 
West, and plows in the North ; neither land nor 
time could be spared for corn, wdieat or grass. 
And so it went even when cotton dropped to 20, 
and to 18, and to 15, and 12 and 10, while the 
farmer got poorer and poorer. 

Boler Moon, who had served as marshal of 
the town for twelve or thirteen years, and had 
gone to Marietta to deliver one of the murderers 
of Capt. Tew, on his return home attempted to 
jump on the car, but slipped and fell beneath it. 
His legs were crushed and he died in a few 
hours. Robert Moore succeeded him, being 
pushed closely in a popular vote by George Ma- 



311 

son, whose courage in the affair with the Yan- 
kee soldiers had won for him many supporters. 
WilHam Shirley became the deputy marshal and 
for many years he and the town mule were fa- 
miliar and equally inoffensive figures upon the 
streets. 

The year 1865 closed with the exhibition of 
the first circus which had appeared in five years. 
It was old John Robincon's and had been well 
advertised through the country. The tent was 
pitched on the then open lot wdiereon the Deupree 
block now stands. The attendance was immense. 
Everybody who could get hold of 75 cents went. 
Religious scruples on the part of church-goers 
were for the most part thrown aside. Rev. 
Harwell Parks, who was stationed in Athens at 
the time, made earnest efforts to awaken the 
Methodistic consciences of his members, and the 
clown impudently thanked him in the circus for 
the advertisement ; but it had been so long since 
the people had been in earshot of a shovj, that 
they had so long been oppressed by troubles of 
various sorts, that the opportunity was not to be 
lightly thrown away. It was estimated that the 
company carried off with them $10,000 as the re- 
ceipts from two performances, though I suspect 
the amount was exaggerated. 

As soon as possible after quiet was restored, 
schools were opened for the much-needed educa- 
tion of the young men and boys. Prof. Ruth- 



312 

erford and his son, Capt. John C. Rutherford, 
had many scholars ; Col. Magill, who had lost an 
arm and had been commandant before the sur- 
render, and Prof. Waddell, too, had pupils. The 
Lucy Cobb Institute began a successful career 
under Aladame Sosnowski. Judge Lumpkin re- 
sumed his law school. Arrangements were made 
to reopen the college. Dr. Lipscomb, Dr. jNIell, 
Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Waddell and Dr. Jones 
were in their places on January 5th, 1866, and 
the session opened with seventy-eight students 
present. For a few years after the war. the 
class of students was unlike any that had ever 
attended college before. Many of them were 
grown men and most of them had been through 
the costly experience of a four year's war, with 
all its lessons of endurance and self-denial. They 
had not come for pastime or to idle away their 
time. They were in dead earnest. It was a 
question of food and raiment, a struggle for ex- 
istence. Poorly fitted for a college curriculum, 
if" was only by hard work that they kept up 
with the requirements. But those were the men 
who a few years later swayed the sceptre of the 
State and redeemed Georgia from the blighting 
curse of the carpet-bagger. 

CHAPTER XL. 

Let us look back at the topographical charac- 



313 



ter of Athens at this time for many changes have 
occurred since then. 

The Georgia Raih-oad was the only one con- 
necting us with the outside world. Its depot 
was on top of the hill beyond the lower bridge, 
where it remained for fifteen years longer, ne- 
cessitating many a tiresome pull in going to and 
fro. On Oconee street a little above the church, 
Deputy Marshal Shirley lived in a two-story 
frame house, and on the opposite triangular lot 
was the old ice house. How many of my readers 
remember the painfully plain old red Shirley 
house? Mr. Shirley was tow'n marshal, street 
commissioner, city engineer and chief of police 
all at once. Mr. Bloomfield once criticizing the 
city administration charged that the entire street 
force consisted of "Old Man Shirley, the town 
mule and a negro woman in a red flannel petti- 
coat." And w^hat is more it was exactly true. 
Mr. Shirley was a mild-eyed amiable man, who 
couldn't treat a convict harshly, however much 
he deserved it. He remained "on the force" 
until 1 876, when infirmity unfitted him for duty. 

Between Shirley's and the corner was the old 
hotel, then abandoned to the rats, and connected 
with the Franklin house by a bridge across the 
street. On Broad street next to the Dorsey 
house was the old. house occupied by the family 
of Major Grady. In that rambling old hotel 
Henry Grady spent his boyhood and the deserted 



314 

old ball room was the field where on rainy days 
he and the Hodgson boys worked ofif their ex- 
uberant vitality without disturbing anybody but 
themselves. 

Where the Deupree block now is, on the cor- 
ner stood a couple of little groggeries high off 
the ground and in the center of the lot the old 
Thomas dwelling, at that time a boarding house 
kept by Sam Pruitt. The Southern Mutual 
corner was occupied by the Lombard house, va- 
cated by the death of its tenant, a vic- 
tim of intemperance. The old brick house was 
built by the Masons, who held their meetings on 
the upper floor. At this time the Southern Ban- 
ner had the first floor. 

Dr. R. M. Smith's residence stood adjoining 
on Clayton street. This will be remembered as 
the handsomest residence in town in 1810. Col. 
John A. Cobb lived in it when he first came to 
Athens. Mrs. Eliza Pope's house stood where 
Talmage's hardware store now is. Beginning 
at the Franklin House corner where Childs & 
Nickerson had just begun business, one would 
pass by L. P. Hoover. Colt & Colbert. R. M. 
Smith's drug store. J. R. and L. C. Matthews, 
Huggins & Dobbs, Summey & Newton, A. K. 
Childs and F. W. Lucas, to T. Bishop & Son 
on the corner. Going back to Nicholson & 
Reaves corner and passing Pruitt's boarding 
house, we find Pitner & Seymour, Jas. S. Eng- 



315 



land & Orr, Pittard & Saiisom, the Bank of 
Athens, I. M. Kenney, Crane & Barry; then 
crossing the street, the Bank corner, the South- 
ern Mutual Insurance office, Mrs. T. A. Adams, 
White & Ritch, Long's Drug Store, M. Mar- 
bury, A. S. Mandeville, White's Book Store. 
Around the corner were Lumpkin & Hemphill, 
McDowell, Vonderlieth and the postoffice. Op- 
posite was Wm. A. Talmadge's jewelry store, 
M. Myers, E. B. & J. Cohen and the Newton 
House office on that corner. Mr. Bloomfield's 
residence stood opposite Dr. Smith's on Clayton 
street and next to him on the corner was Bur- 
pee's carriage shop. 

The space around the old town spring was all 
open and wagoners from the up country used to 
camp there. Alas, that bold spring where thou- 
sands have quenched their thirst, shaded by 
grand old oaks under which great men in Geor- 
gia used to loll, is covered up by Dozier's lumber 
yard and its once limpid waters seep thnnigh 
the soil into a dirty drain below. 

The streets were in a bad condition. Deputy 
Shirley with the town mule and a negro, endeav- 
ored to fill the holes and keep them passable. 
The few lamps lit by gas made from poor pine 
were little better than the tallow dip and on a 
still, starlit night the foot passenger in cross- 
ing a street was as liable to alight in a pool of 
water as upon the spot he thought comparatively 



316 

dr\-. Cows were pastured on the streets and at 
night herded at will upon the sidewalks. Hogs 
ran at large, dispensing sweet odors on the e\en- 
ing air and bearing their young unblushingly 
by the front gate. The primitive custom of 
dumping all the trash and refuse of the house- 
hold over the back fence was in vogue, enrich- 
ing but not ennobling the adjacent soil, and along 
the fence where there was no sidewalk, the weeds 
grew in thickets dense enough to hide a compa- 
ny of sharp-shooters. 

From the Northeastern depot to the river was 
a virgin forest known as Dr. Ware's woods, and 
this side the depot were cultivated fields or past- 
ures. Newtown was an old pine field. Back of 
the houses on Oconee street were woods and corn 
fields, and the boys bathed in the river at any 
point between the bridges secure from the public 
gaze. Indeed, "the Lake" on Trail creek and 
the "shallow hole" and "Dearing's fence" on the 
river, were the successive stages in the swim- 
mer's education. After graduating at "Dearing's 
fence" a boy might go in "Carr's pond" at will 
and learn to swim around "the pines," which, 
storm-scarred and dead, stood sentinel at the 
head of the pond. "Moore's branch" was a dan- 
gerous, though popular place. Several boys have 
been drowned there who were ambitious beyond 
their ability to swim. 

Cobbham was a town in the woods. Forest 



317 



trees stood here and there in the streets, which 
ungraded, rose and fell with the undulations of 
the adjoining lots. Every lot had its garden 
and the family cow was ubiquitous. No clatter- 
ing milk-man nor hacks, nor early trains dis- 
turbed the slumbers of the early morn. The only 
train of the time, the "Athens Branch," left at 
the genteel hour of nine and returned at five. 
There was no need of haste and life was lived 
at leisure. 

The year 1866 witnessed a general revival of 
business, of education and of religion. New 
firms infused new life in all places of business. 
The influx of students of both sexes added life 
and income to the town. 

The first observance of Memorial Dav oc- 
curred May 4th, when an address suitable to 
the occasion was delivered by Gen. Wm. M. 
Browne. 

The first commencement — after the war — was 
held July 4th. The old interest in this day re- 
vived and the attendance was increased by the 
adoption of the day by the freedmen as their 
independence day, and the report that had been 
spread among them that every one would be 
fined $5 who didn't come to town. Great crowds 
flocked to the campus and were with some diffi- 
culty kept out of the chapel. The commencement 
music was furnished by local colored talent, and 
Billy Holbrooks, Tom Reed and Wes Brown 



318 



with fiddles and clarionet, dispensed the same old 
tunes, made familiar at many a dance. On com- 
mencement day, however, they were required to 
bring out their brass horns, an act which pro- 
duced the keenest regret in the audience. 

A revival of religion in the fall of 1866, which 
was begun and carried on in the Methodist 
church during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Parks 
spread throughout the community and more than 
eighty converts joined the church. 

The old store on Broad street long ago occu- 
pied by Baynon & Ritch, but then by L. A. Dugas 
was entirely consumed by fire in that year, but 
Mr. Bloomfield with characteristic energy began 
to rebuild before the bricks grew cold. The gas 
works were renovated and lamp posts put up on 
the principal streets. The complaint was made 
that in locating the lamps the committee placed 
one, then went until they could no longer see 
the light from that, and set the next one. 

A fast train to New York was put on over the 
W. & A. R. R., which made the trip in ^J 1-2 
hours, and the freight on cotton to New York 
was reduced to $5.80 per bale. In spite of this 
and a Federal tax of 3 cents a pound cotton 
sold readily at 35 cents in September. 

The new firm of Reaves & Brumby began in 
business which a little later became Center & 
Reaves and for years did by far the largest busi- 
ness of any firm in Northeast Georgia. 



319 



The year 1866 was prolific in deaths of promin- 
ent citizens of Athens. In Januar}- Mr. Asbury 
Hnll died suddenly while reading his Bible at 
his home. Mr. Thomas Bishop, an old merchant, 
died in April, and Mr. Abijah Conger died of 
paralysis, aged 84. July was marked by the 
death of Dr. Hoyt, pastor of the Presbyterian 
church. Dr. Hoyt came to Athens in 1830 and 
for thirty-six years ministered to his flock shar- 
ing in their joys and their sorrows. Many of 
them he held at their baptism, heard the peal of 
their wedding bells and listened to their funeral 
toll. He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Burkhead. 
Gen. M. L. Smith also died in July. Mr. Ross 
Crane in October and Madame Gouvain in No- 
vember. In the first half of 1867 Prof. James P. 
Waddell, Capt. W. H. Dorsey, Mr. Thomas 
Moore and Judge Joseph H. Lumpkin died. 

The people of Athens were just settling down 
to the new order of things and the negroes were 
adjusting themselves to their new relationships, 
when the Reconstruction Acts fell upon the 
South like a fire-brand in a powder magazine. 
This iniquitous legislation awakened all the pas- 
sions which had slumbered after four years of 
war and rapine. Where had been cold dislike 
now sprang up bitter hatred and malignant scorn. 
The fires which were kindled then burned long 
and fierce, and alas ! the embers are still smok- 
insf. 



320 

Athens shared in the passions which those dia- 
boHcal measures provoked. In the ebuUition of 
that period the mean "poor white" came to the 
top. hke scum upon the pot. He associated with 
the negro on terms of equahty and in most cases 
the negro was the more respectable. Defying the 
scorn of his former friends and associates, he 
hob-nobbed with the Yankee solcUer and the 
scalawag to manipulate the negro and control 
his vote. The respectable element being dis- 
franchised, the rascally triumvirate held the 
reins of authority. 

Early in this period of oppression the Union 
League made its appearance in a procession 
which paraded the streets, headed by a negro on 
horse-back with sash and sword, while a horde 
of ignorant blacks with a mixture of renegade 
whites tramped behind. Making their way to the 
old "Harden Shop," they obediently transacted 
the business of their leaders. With all the impres- 
siveness of surrounding cofifins. skulls, and cross- 
bones, and brandishing of swords and pistols, 
the negroes were sworn with great oaths to 
"vote the ticket." 

Later political meetings were held there and in 
one of them Alf Richardson made an incendiary 
speech which led to his being killed by the Ku 
Klux. Subsequently the old shop became the 
repository of broken down aristocratic furniture 
awaiting the rejuvenating hand of Antonio Gara- 



321 



baldi, and much horse hair, velours, silk damask 
and such like which had been very near to tender 
professions of love and revelations of political 
schemes, was ruthlessly torn away and consigned 
to the rag pile there. 

Under the forced registration law the whites 
were greatly in the minority, and under the rul- 
ing of General Pope which made the county 
courthouse the only precinct, but few of these 
cared to go seven miles to vote. However, at 
the last moment. Col. Daggett changed the polling 
place to Athens. 

The first election for the legislature in the era 
of reconstruction resulted in the choice of Madi- 
son Davis over James T. Sansom. Mat Davis 
was then, a leader of his race ; to his 
credit be it said he was always on the side 
of law and order, and his influence among his 
people was always for peace. ]^Jat was to all 
appearances a wdiite man. Indeed, when negroes 
were expelled from the legislature in 1868, Mat 
was not disturbed in his tenure of office. Once 
when in Washington City Mat went to a hotel 
and before registering said to the clerk "I think 
I should tell you sir, that I am a colored man.'' 
Whereupon the clerk said "If you had not said 
s(> I would have assigned you a room, but since 
you tell me you are colored you cannot stop at 
this hotel." So Mat strolled on until he came 
to a hotel for negroes. But as he proceeded to 



322 

register the clerk said to him : "You cannot stOD 
here ; this hotel is exclusively for colored peo- 
ple." "But I am a colored man," said Mat. 
"You may be, but you are too white for this 
hotel," said the clerk. And but for an Athenian 
in the city who knew him and took him in, Mat 
might have walked the streets of Washington all 
night looking for a place to sleep. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Those who did not go through the period of 
reconstruction cannot appreciate tbe condition 
of affairs in those troublous times. Thomas 
Dixon's Clansman is not exaggerated. The in- 
solence of the lately freed slave was intolerable. 
Idle, venal, often bestial, encouraged to self as- 
sertion by white renegades and backed by the 
power of the Freedman's Bureau, he w^as a 
nienace to society. If we appealed from his 
rascality it was to a corrupt Judge. If we pun- 
ished his insolence we paid a fine to the Freed- 
man's Bureau. If we resorted to more serious 
reprisals we were carried under arrest to At- 
lanta and probably jailed. 

In the towns the aggregation of white men 
held in check the negro, but in the village and in 
the country they were fast becoming a terror. 
Women feared to go out alone and every man 
went armed. To check this growing evil this 
threatening horror, the Ku Klux Klan was or- 



32 



ganized. This was no body of fantastics out for 
a frolic. It was composed of bands of earnest 
men bent on serious business, determined to 
maintain the integrity of their homes, to rid the 
community of dangerous characters and restore 
peace and good order to their country. 

In Clarke County the Ku Klux com[)rised 
some of whom are now living in Athens and are 
well known to the writer. They were aided and 
abetted by older men of character and means, 
members of tlie various churches and esteenied 
for their worth. They were organized in bands 
of twent}' or thirty, each under a Captain. 
When there was work for the'band to do a notice 
was mysteriously nailed to the stable door to 
meet at the usual place at such an hour. These 
notices were phrased in mysterious words which 
the member understood well enough but which 
might well appall the uninitiated who should 
read them. Assembled at the meeting place in 
disguise the word was passed in secret what was 
to be the night's work. This usually consisted 
in visiting the house of some idle negro who had 
made himself obnoxious, terrifying him with 
ghostly scenes, whipping him into submission, 
then warning him that unless there was a radical 
change in his conduct a second call would prove 
more disastrous. 

Only one such visit in this County is remem- 
bered to have resulted fatally. Alf Richardson, 



324 

a negro, who had been counted in a member of 
the Legislature had made himself extremely ob- 
noxious to the white people, swelling with in- 
solence and inciting other negroes to devilish 
deeds. One night the Ku Klux about fort} 
strong went to his house and called him out. 
He retreated to the attic and the door was 
broken open with an axe. A match was struck 
and the negro located and on his refusal to come 
out he was shot. Leaving him for dead, the de- 
tail came out, but as the last man came down 
the narrow stair the wounded negro reached for 
his gun and shot him. He was a handsome 
young fellow, popular and brave. He died and 
was buried that night. The negro died several 
days later. 

Many things were done in those da\s and for 
a long time afterwards in the name of the Ku 
Klux which would have been better left undone, 
and with which the real organization had noth- 
ing whatever to do. Sometimes when called out 
for serious work they had their fun. For in- 
stance when Myer Stern, then a recent comer 
from the fatherland, was doing a peripatetic 
trade in notions, he unhappily met a band of Ku 
Klux all in regulation disguise. They ordered 
him to lay down his stock in trade and bring 
water from a spring while they sat on their 
horses and told him to hurry up. He declares 



325 



to this day that every man of them drank a full 
bucket of water. 

The day of the Ku Klux has happily passed. 
Lawless it was if you please, but those who pre- 
tended to administer the law in that day were 
still more lawless and there are occasions when 
the written law must yield to the instincts of self 
preservation. 

But while occasional riots, some bloodshed and 
a few homicides occurred, none of those violent 
measures to protect society were adopted in Ath- 
enns, which seemed necessary in other places, 
and we managed to maintain fairly good order 
v.\ the town. 

It is rather remarkable that with 150 hot- 
headed students at the State University so little 
trouble occurred. Albert Cox's commencement 
speech it is true brought down the direst threats 
from General Pope, and the chief income of the 
college was for a while withheld. 

The intense political excitement of the recon- 
struction period was at its height in 1867. Mr. 
Benjamin H. Hill had finished that remarkable 
series of letters, "Notes on the Situation." Gov- 
ernor Brown had cast his lot with the Radicals, 
who were arraigned against the intelligence and 
integrity of the State. 

At the commencement of that year during 
the exercises of the junior class, Albert H. Cox, 
of LaGrange. came upon the stage. Handsome. 



326 



with a clear voice and graceful manner, he soon 
caught the attention of the audience. His sub- 
ject was "The Vital Principle of Nations." Hav- 
ing delivered his introduction, he entered upon 
his speech, which, for true eloquence, close rea- 
soning and pure audacity, has never been equal- 
ed by the production of any other student on that 
stage. He arraigned the Republican party and 
scored the scalawag without mercy. Without 
using his name, he attacked Governor Brown and 
held him up to the gaze of the audience as a 
traitor to his people, turning to him as he sat 
with the trustees on the stage and pointmg at 
him in scorn. The whole audience was with 
the young speaker, and, with glowing faces, gave 
hmi unstinted applause. Mr. Hill sat near him 
and visibly encouraged him by voice and gesture. 
Governor Brown across the stage sat placid and 
unmoved. It was a scene never to be forgotten, 
and when Cox retired from the stage amid a storrii 
of applause and a shower of bouquets, he went 
with more reputation made during that brief 
half-hour than many a man makes in a lifetime. 
This audacious speech threatened to be more 
serious in its consequences than anyone dreamed 
at the time. Georgia was under military control, 
and General John Pope, of "Headquarters in the 
Saddle" fame, commanding at Atlanta, issued an 
order closing the college and withholding the 
payment of the eight thousand dollars by the 



327 



State. Chancellor Lipscomb visited General 
Pope and secured a revocation of the first order. 
It was intimated that if Mr. B. H. Hill, who had 
made himself especially obnoxious to the oppres- 
sors, would resign his trusteeship and the profes- 
sorship of law to which he had been recently ap- 
pointed, then the displeasure of the autocrat 
would be appeased and he might permit the cur- 
rent to resume its flow. A correspondence en- 
sued between General Pope and General Grant 
in. relation to the matter. Mr. Hill visited Presi- 
dent Johnson and General Grant in the interest 
of the college, and it was not until a special meet- 
ing of the board had been held to issue an address 
to the authorities at Washington, that the appro- 
priation was restored. 

As an •illustration of the dictatorial measures 
which the District Commanders assumed, Gen- 
eral Sickles who w'as in command in Charleston, 
entered a street car smoking. The conductor 
approached and said in a respectful manner: "It 
is against the rules of the company, sir, to smoke 
in this car." "Oh well," said the General, "you 
may consider the rules superceded until I am 
through smoking." The arbitrary commands 
of military satraps were received with ill-con- 
cealed discontent, and there was much irritation 
e.«^pecially among the younger men. 

A certain Major Knox, an agent of the Freed- 
man's Bureau, and whose name has been handed 



328 



down to colored posterity in Knox Institute, 
shared in the contempt which invested the carpet- 
baggers. In a difficulty with Tom Frierson, he 
shot the latter in the thigh, but was acquitted 
on the plea of self-defense, though it was shown 
that Frierson was not armed. However, the con- 
servatism and good sense of the citizens of Ath- 
ens prevented any serious collision and in the 
course of a year or tw^o they had complete control 
of their own affairs. 

CHAPTER XLII. 

In 1867 some sales of real estate gave promise 
of more life to the town. The home of the late 
Mr. Asbury Hull was sold for $9,000, and Mr. 
Benjamin H. Hill bought the John T. Grant 
house it was said for $20,000. The University 
sold the triangle between Broad and Oconee 
Streets, wdiereon the old "ice house" was situated, 
for $250. It is now covered by Billups Phinizy's 
warehouse and is worth many times that sum. 

The population of Athens according to a cen- 
sus taken in March 1867, was 4,203, of w^hom 
150 were students. The taxable property re- 
turned that year amounted to $1,037,000. Of 
this $212,100 was stock in trade, $65,400 house- 
hold furniture, $22,700 horses, $15,900 carriages 
and $721,800 real estate. The healthfulness of 
the town was never better demonstrated than in 



329 



the death-rate the following year, which accord- 
ing to the report was 20 whites and 47 blacks. 

The first evidence of material growth after the 
war was the building of Deupree Opera House. 
Mr. Lewis J. Deupree, a wealthy citizen of Lex- 
ington, purchased the old Thomas place for 
$10,000, and erected the three-story building on 
the corner which bears his name, Captain John 
W. Brumby supervising it and George Manes do- 
ing the work. The stores in this building were 
considered the finest and choicest in the town. 
They were in the heart of the business portion. 
Soon afterwards the rickety old hotel of two 
generations back which once entertained a Presi- 
dent of the United States, when vacated by the 
family of Major Grady, was torn down and gave 
place to new stores built by S. C. Dobbs and T- 
W. Collins. 

The lower bridge, which had been washed 
away by the freshet of 1865 and and replaced by 
a toll bridge, was now rebuilt and thrown open to 
the public. That bridge was adapted to rail- 
roads but not to wagons ; and after a few years 
it careened to one side and was condemned. 

The town sustained a loss in 1867 iii the re- 
moval of Mr. Henry Hull to New Orleans. Mr. 
Hull was not only one of the handsomest of 
men, but there was an elegance in his manner 
and a charm in his conversation, which few per- 
sons possess. He resigned the presidency of the 



330 

National Bank to accept a similar position in 
New Orleans. Air. Hull was a public-spirited 
citizen and prominent in every department of 
social life. He was one of the builders of the 
Lucy Cobb Institute, a Trustee of the University, 
and one of the promoters of the Oconee Ceme- 
tery. He died suddenly in a street car in Savan- 
nah, where he had for some years been a promi- 
nent banker. 

A greater loss was the sudden death of General 
Howell Cobb, who died in New York on the 6th 
of October from heart failure while ascending 
the stairs in Fifth Avenue Hotel. 

The funeral services of General Cobb were 
held in the college chapel on October 15. The 
immense crowd of citizens and the many visitors 
from other cities, who attended, atttested the love 
of his people for the dead statesman and friend. 
It was a singular coincidence that General Cobb 
and William Hope Hull, former law partners, 
and always warm friends, should both have died 
suddenly while visiting the same city — the one 
in a hotel at the side of his wife, the other alone 
upon the door-step of a stranger. 

William Hope Hull was born in Athens in 
1820 and graduated with first honor in 1838 in 
the class with Williams Rutherford, Ferdinand 
Phinizy. Shelton P. Sanford, Benjamin R. Palm- 
er, and John LeConte. The last survivor of that 



> •- 



Wili^iam' Hopk Hur.T. 



331 



class, Dr. Lewis G. Anderson, of Appalachee, is 
the oldest living Alumnus of the University. 

Hope Hull was in his early days active in 
politics and was a fluent and eloquent speaker. 
He was an eminent lawyer but was without any 
ambition for office. He accepted the office of 
Solicitor of the U. S. Treasury at the urgent re- 
quest of Howell Cobb, the then Secretary, but 
declined an appointment on the Supreme Court 
of Georgia. In his younger days he loved a lady 
who was warmly attached to him, but her father 
forced her to break the engagement on account 
of his habits. The disappointment affected his 
whole after life. He reformed his habits, became 
an ardent advocate of temperance, but never mar- 
ried. Mr. Hull was a man of great humor and 
many stories are told of .him and Howell Cobb 
who was his law partner and intimate friend. 
Once Secretary Cobb was flooded with invita- 
tions to make addresses on various occasions and 
Mr. Hull coming in he said, "Hope, I declare I 
am bothered to death with these invitations to 
make speeches. What shall I do to stop it?" 
"Make one," was the reply. Mr. Hull died sud- 
denly in New York in 1882. He had gone to the 
theatre and feeling badly left the house. About 
midnight he was found sitting on the steps of 
a house near by, dead, and so passed away one 
of the greatest lawvers at the Georgia bar. 



332 



A good citizen was Lewis J. Lampkin, quon- 
dam sheriff, trader, auctioneer and hotel keeper. 
He was amiable and full of humor and therefore 
popular, slow of speech and shrewd. As an acu- 
tioneer he was inimitable and had a way of 
inveigling a bidder to raise his own bid that no 
other auctioneer could equal. Mr. Lampkin was 
a good Methodist and took a professional interest 
in "raising" subscriptions to church purposes. 
After many ups and downs he died quite well off. 
owning besides other property half the block 
where his son Cobb is now in business. 

But recurring to 1867 the old Confederate 
Armory was sold by the Cook's to the Athens 
Manufacturing Company, for $20,000. Mr. 
Bloomfield foreseeing the expansion of the com- 
pany's business removed all the looms to this 
building and converted it into a weaving mill. 
He built a number of cottages for the operatives, 
and that their bodies should not be provided for 
at the expense of their souls, he also built St. 
Mary's church, naming it for Mrs. Mary Baxter, 
a stockholder in the factory, who had recently 
died. It was said that Mr. Bloomfield locat- 
ed the lines for the walls, put the masons to work 
and being called away from town told them to 
build them straight up until he should return. 
Being detained longer than he expected, when 
he came back he found four walls about twentv 



333 



feet high without a sign of a door or window in 
them. 

The Adams family VN^ho hved below Mrs. Har- 
den were singularly handsome people. The fath- 
er died early but Mrs. Adams lived sometime 
after the war a very dignified, very handsome and 
it was said a very high tempered old lady. As 
I remember them her children all resembled her 
with classic features and steel gray eyes. 

Habersham Adams became a preacher of in- 
fluence in the Methodist Church. 

Flournoy W. or Ferdy Adams as he was gen- 
erally known was Cashier of the National Bank 
and a most capable officer. He was extremely 
courteous and very quick tempered. With him it 
was a word and blow. Once several of us were 
sitting on the steps of the old Post Office waiting 
for the mail to open when Major Adams came 
out of the door. As he passed down one of the 
party asked "Who is that fellow?" Immediate- 
ly Major Adams turned and said "You called 
me a fellow, sir !" and catching him by the 
collar jerked him down the steps and a fight was 
prevented only by both being held down. Mutual 
friends brought about mutual apologies and avert- 
ed a challenge to a duel. 

Major Adams went to New York about 1872 
and engaged in business. He always had a 
horror of smallpox and strange to say died of 
that disease. 



334 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

But while the poHtics of the State was in the 
last stage of decomposition and adventurers 
were fattening on the treasury, our people were 
improving their material condition and especially 
giving more attention to new methods of farming. 

The Southern Cultivator, then owned and edit- 
ed by Dr. Wm. Louis Jones, was the only agricul- 
tural paper published in the South. It had a 
large circulation, with subscribers in Australia 
and New Zealand, and it was the ultimate au- 
thority on Southern farming. The little brick 
house near the northwest corner of the campus 
lately torn down by Mr. Edwards, was built 
for its home, and Rev. Ellison Stone, with a lit- 
tle help, did all the printing. The Southern Cul- 
tivator, I may remark in passing was first pub- 
lished by Dr. James Tinsley in 1842 and after- 
wards edited by Dr. Daniel Lee and Dr. James 
Camak. Then it was edited and owned by Wil- 
liam N. White, and it was his pride that it was 
the only periodical in the South that never missed 
an issvie throughout the fovir years of the war. 
Mr. White was a well known writer on garden- 
ing and sold out a prosperous book business to 
devote himself to that congenial pursuit. 

A wheat club was formed by a dozen gentlemen 
of Athens, the members contesting for a silver 
pitcher costing $125, which was to be awarded 



335 



to the largest yield of wheat on a single acre. 
Dr. Hamilton won the prize with 45 1-2 bushels, 
and Mr. Edward Bancroft was a close second 
with 44. A few years later Mr. Bancroft raised 
the yield of an acre of cotton on his town lot 
with the enormous result of 51-2 bales. This 
being published abroad, created a demand for 
"Bancroft's seed," which for years paid him a 
good income. 

The first illustration we had of a farm equipped 
with latest machinery and conducted on modern 
and Northern lines was John A. Meeker's. John 
Meeker's father came South in 1857 and John 
grew up with "us boys." He inherited a nice 
property and took to farming. He bought about 
200 acres including the old field out on Milledge 
Avenue. He built barns, tore up the Bermuda 
sod with two horse plows, harrowed and rolled 
it and put on tons of manure. He introduced 
mowers, horse rakes and sulky plows. He built 
hay mows and big wagon frames, and raised 
clover hay, and pigs and Jersey cows. His oats 
and wheat were something to see and hardly a 
day passed but some old ante-bellum Hayseed 
visited Meeker's farm to admire the progressive 
young farmer. 

John was an enthusiastic farmer and it was 
fortunate that he had capital to offset losses and 
that he was not dependent on his farm for a liv- 
ing. The farm did not pay in dollars but it did 



336 



in fun and it wasn't until bills became clue which 
John couldn't pay that he sold his place and 
moved to Virginia where he died two years ago. 

When the Trustees had become ashamed of 
the appearance of the Campus authority was 
given the Prudential Committee to improve it. 
Mr. P. J. Berckmans, of Augusta, generously 
contributed many shrubs and plants and John 
Aleeker was engaged to do the work. He did 
it well. He plowed and crossed-plowed it, har- 
rowed and rolled and dug down and filled in ; he 
laid out the walks, planted the shrubbery and 
sowed grass. After he had finished it up some of 
the boys went to one of the drug stores bought 
its entire supply of turnip seed and sowed them 
on the ground. The season was propitious and 
in time there was as pretty a crop of salad on 
the Campus as anyone could wish to see. And 
yet the critics say the boys at the University know- 
nothing about agriculture. 

Speaking of IMeeker's farm in the spring of 
1868, the boys held a tournament on the old grass 
covered field just back of Dr. W. A. Carlton's 
house on Milledge Avenue. About twenty col- 
lege boys rode in the glittering costumes of the 
aays of Front de Boeuf, saving the armor. A 
large concourse of citizens in carriages and box s 
on foot had gathered to witness the contest, and 
girls whom the knights had chosen for their 
ladies fair were all aglow with excitement, each 



337 



one confident of being elevated to the t]'rone of 
love and beauty before night. 

At the trumpet's call the steeds fired up under 
influence of spur and bit, and the modern Cru- 
saders let go in turn. Taking a good start they 
dashed down the course, cutting and slashing at 
wooden heads and punching at elusive rings (.. 
the plaudits of the admiring crowd of spectators. 

Jep Rucker resplendent in silver and blue rode 
a big gray. Ben Hill in glittering costume rode 
his bay singlefooter. George Goetchius rode Dr. 
Hull's "Slick," and Buford Davis got a tumble 
from Mr. Burkhead's sorrel. Ham Yancey, Wal- 
ter Gordon and Reese Crawford and a dozen oth- 
ers made it interesting and after each knight had 
had his turn came Tinny Rucker trotting dov/n 
the course on an ox. 

The successful knights were Peter Meldrim 
Baxter Council and Alfred Al friend in the order 
named. The best man crowned as Queen, Miss 
Mary Lou Yancey, while the others chose as 
Maids of Honor Misses Belle Hardeman and 
Saida Bird. During the evening the beautiful 
Queen received the homage of her subjects at 
her fathers residence at a delightful impromptu 
reception and with such gracious dignity that the 
disappointed candidates for the throne were 
made to feel if they were not queens they were at 
least princesses of the blood. 



338 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

To the patriotism and unflagging energy of 
Mrs. Williams Rutherford the Ladies' Memorial 
Association owes its organization, and to her 
persistent efforts is due the erection of the Con- 
federate Monument. The first observance of 
Memorial Day — not Decoration Day, which is a 
Northern appointment — occured in May 1866 
and Gen. W. M. Browne delivered the oration. 

For forty years the day has been kept with 
varying degrees of interest, but without omission. 
The number of Veterans who attend the services 
diminish year by year, and with feebler steps and 
forms more bent, the survivors march to hear the 
defense of their cause and the eulogies of the 
Southern soldier. 

The corner stone of the monument was laid with 
impressive ceremonies on May 5th, 1871. A long 
procession of all the dignitaries of the city as- 
sembling at the College Chapel marched around 
to the site and after an address by Albert L. Mit- 
chell Esq., a soldier who had lost an arm at Ken- 
nesaw, the Masons concluded the exercises. 
The monument was not built without frequent ap- 
peals and hard work. Suppers and shows and 
concerts swelled the receipts from private con- 
tributions until finally the last dollar was paid. 

In 1870 the Athens Street Railroad was incor- 
porated, with W. P. Dearing as builder and mana- 



339 

ger. The primary object of this railroad was to 
facilitate the transportation of freight from the 
Georgia railroad depot across the river — then 
the only port of entry. The drayage charges 
were a great burden to the merchants, and Gann 
& Reaves who owned the line of drays grew rich 
in the business. 

The street cars which were nothing more than 
flats pulled by mules, delivered freight at the mer- 
chant's doors as far as College avenue. Eventual- 
ly the drays underbid the railroad and the latter 
fell into desuetude and twenty years later the rails 
and crossties were removed in order to give place 
to the improvement of the street. 

About the same time the old livery stables on 
Lumpkin street which had been occupied by the 
Confederate government, were torn down and 
replaced by a cottage built by James P. Dorsey. 

The growing membership of the Methodists 
necessitated the building of Oconee Street church 
and the retirement of the seceders from the old 
church was followed by the purchase of an ele- 
gant new organ for that building. Mr. Ferdinand 
Phinizy who professed a perfect horror of musi- 
cal instruments in churches, withdrew his con- 
tributions to the First Church and promised a 
larger sum to the Oconee Street Church so long 
as they had no organ. 

The location of the College of Agriculture and 
Mechanic Arts at the University in Athens in 



340 

1873 brought forth the gift of Moore College 
from the city. Dr. R. D. Moore was the active 
spirit in this movement and in recognition of his 
work the building was named for him. Col. 
Charbonnier drew the plans and M. B. McGinty 
received the contract. 

The building of this College brought McGinty 
to Athens. He came just in time to meet an in- 
creasing demand for builders. Mr . Crane had 
died some years before, Mr. Carlton had retired 
from business, the Witherspoons took no work, 
and there wasn't a man here to contract for a 
chicken coop. McGinty soon had his hands full 
and in a few years was worth $50,000. He built 
every house in Athens of any pretensions from 

1874 to 1890. 

In that year the time-honored custom of before 
breakfast recitations was abolished and the hasty 
morning toliet, the hurry and scurry to answer 
at morning prayers was henceforth but a memory 
of the past, no doubt to the delight of both stu- 
dents and professors. It may be doubted whether 
the early prayers ever found the students in a 
devotional frame of mind. Many a boy had ap- 
peared in the chapel two minutes out of bed. 
sans socks, sous trousers, sans coat, his slip- 
pers and dressing gown alone saving him from 
the charge of indecency. 

The early morning recitation used to be a great 
.trial to Professor Wash. He rarely got out to 



341 



prayers and often the class would have to wait 
for his appearance in the recitation room. One 
morning the Freshmen finding him not in, all 
slipped off their shoes, intending to steal softly 
out and "cut" the recitation. Their unusual 
quiet aroused the suspicions of Mr. Wash, whose 
room was adjoining. He opened the door to find 
half the class tiptoeing down the hall, every man 
with his shoes in his hands. "Come back, gentle- 
men," said he quietly, "and put on your shoes. I 
will be in directly." It might have been imagina- 
tion, but the lesson seemed unusually hard that 
morning and Mr. Wash unnecessarily exacting. 

The annual commencement, which had been 
advanced to July, was now restored to its old date 
in August. This action of the Board, it was said, 
was due to the ladies of Athens. As one of the 
Trustees said, "it was a question of watermelons." 
The hospitable housekeepers said they could get 
nothing to eat for their guests so early in July, 
and they insisted that commencement should be 
held when peaches and watermelons were abun- 
dant. 

Several ineffectual attempts to reorganize the 
Athens Guards had been made, but the old 
soldiers had had their fill of that sort of work, 
and it was not until the boys who were too young 
for the war had grown up, that enough would en- 
list to commission the company. For a few years 
under the successive commands of Captains Dal- 



342 



ton Mitchell, J. H. Rucker, C. G. Talmadge and 
John Hope Hull, the Guards maintained their or- 
ganization and then yielding to the prevailing 
weariness with the military, disbanded. 

Indeed, without disparagement to the military 
spirit, there has never been an occasion since the 
hottest period of reconstruction, when there was 
any necessity for a military company in Athens, at 
least for local defense. At the time of the Roun- 
tree killing the excitement among the negroes 
threatened trouble, but they were soon quieted 
without a collision. That the traditions of the 
old company which once gaily kept step on the 
holiday parade andl afterwards tramped mile 
after mile to meet the shock of battle, will be 
kept alive by succeeding generations is assured 
by the later reorganization of the Guards and its 
reputation as one of the very best companies in 
the State Guard. 

It has been said sententiously that young peo- 
ple will be young people. Observation has 
shown it to be true. Relieved of the exactions 
of the war the young people of Athens of whom 
the College boys are always an important part, 
threw care to the winds and enjoyed themselves. 
They formed clubs and societies which were only 
excuses for bringing them together with their 
friends. There was a Chess Club and a Dramatic 
Club, and a Shooting Club and a Musical Club, 
The last was quite popular and lived through 



343 

several years under the able Presidency of Miss 
Susie Hill, but abandoning music for gossip and 
"gab" it was finally left without a quorum and 
disbanded. 

The skating rink was an intsitution which gave 
much pleasure both to the skaters and the lookers- 
on. Capt. Henry Beusse first introduced it here, 
and night after night Depuree Hall was a scene 
of life and laughter ; a festival of falls. 

It will interest the cyclists to know that the 
first bicycle which ever appeared in Athens was 
made in 1869 by old Mr. Richard Schevenell and 
was ridden by Len Scbevenell on Broad Street. 
It is not claimed that this primitive wheel was 
equal to a "Columbia," but for a rider with plenty 
of strength, plenty of time and lots of paticence, it 
did pretty well. 

Mr. Schevenell was a very ingenious man. He 
was a carriage maker by trade, a Frenchman by 
birth and had served in the French army. Dur- 
ing the war when he was not drilling the Mitchell 
Thunderbolts, he was inventing something to re- 
lieve the necessities of the times. His cotton 
cards, though rough, were quite a help to the 
women who had to do their own spinning and 
weaving. He was an avowed infidel, and with 
two other companions formed a coterie which met 
to discuss Tom Paine and refute the teachings 
of the Bible. Mr. Schevenell lived to a great age, 
being past ninety at his death. 



344 



Base ball has become such a science that we 
would be censured for comparing it with the 
games we used to play. But there was lots more 
fun in the old games. Before baseball was im- 
ported "town-ball" was the popular game at 
school. Any number might play and two leaders 
chose sides. A solid rubber ball was used and 
any kind of bat to suit the taste. An old carriage 
spoke was the favorite, but it was considered dis- 
graceful to use a broad paddle. The batter might 
be caught out in the field or behind "on the first 
bounce" but could only be put out by being hit 
with the ball when running the bases. A good 
batter would knock the ball a long way but if it 
went over the fence, everything must stop until 
it was found and thrown into the field. 

Foot-ball too was dififerent from the Rugby 
game. The ball could not be touched with the 
hand at all and the game consisted in running 
and kicking. When the ball got into a fence cor- 
ner it became interesting. Then every fellow let 
loose, kicking at large until the ball came out — 
along with several sore shins. The little fellows 
generally stayed out of the scrimmage leaving the 
big boys to do the work. "Babe" Crane was a 
famous foot-ball player. A good runner, the best 
kicker and full of courage in a tight place, he was 
always the first choice among the boys. One in 
a game on Washington Street, back of Dr. Carl- 
ton's — it was called Market Street then and was 



345 



covered with Bermuda grass — "Babe" Crane was 
taking- the ball down to his goal when Seabrook 
Hull tried to intercept him, both kicking at the 
ball at once. Their legs collided and Dock's 
shin bone snapped in two. "Babe" Crane went to 
the army in 1862 and was killed in the battle of 
Bentonville in 1865. 

But this is a long way from base-ball. It was 
after the war that Bill Hodgson introduced base- 
ball in Athens. The old field — then open — in 
font of Col. Morton's residence was the place 
where it was played. Charley Collier was the 
best catcher in College and Charles Ed Morris 
was the first pitcher to put a twist on the ball. 
Lots of runs were made on both sides and flies 
without number knocked which the spectators all 
enjoyed. The "Dixies" and the "Pop and Go's" 
were famous Clubs which beat everything in sight 
and had a State reputation. 

CHAPTER XLV. 

During the regime of the volunteer fire depart- 
ment the Athenians took great pride in their 
companies. A solid, substantial company was 
"Hope No. I," and if at a fire there was water to 
be had, "Hope" was certain to put it where it 
would do the most good. 

But somehow the dash and elan of the "Pio- 
neers" overshadowed the hose company. This 



346 



hook and ladder company was organized before 
the war and was left with hardly enough men to 
move the truck. In the early seventies the young 
men rallied to her standard, the citizens responded 
and the ladies helped with a great supper. Here 
was every kind of fish-pond and grab-bag and 
prize-egg ever heard of. Rebecca at the well and 
the Gipsy fortune-teller vied with the seductive 
seller of ice-cream to extract all the loose change 
from the visitor. A good sum was realized and 
a new truck was brought with which many a com- 
petitive drill was won. At home or abroad Pio- 
neer's colors never trailed in defeat, or if they did, 
it wasn't fair. The Talmadge's, Bill Hodgson, 
the Beusse's and John Moon are inseparately con- 
nected with the history of this gallant company. 

It was a distinction to belong to "Pioneer" and 
in the contests with other cities she always came 
out a victor. A clipping from an old paper 
about this company will be read with interest. 
However, as it appeared in 1887, it is not so old 
as the time of which I am writing. "After this 
Mr. Prince Hodgson appeared leading Miss May 
Hull, and Mr. Andrew Cobb the City Attorney, 
took the stand and turned over the trucks on the 
part of the city to the gallant company in a short 
speech." After formally presenting the trucks 
he introduced Miss Hull, who made a brief 
speech and broke a bottle of champagne, and, 
incidentally, cut the hand of one of the men with 



347 



the broken glass. Mr. Hodgson took the stand 
and thanked Miss Hull in the name of the com- 
pany "for the service you have performed. 
Eighteen years ago, on this same spot, your 
most excellent mother, then in the prime of her 
happy girlhood days,, baptized the dear old trucks 
which are now laid aside for this more preten- 
tious machine." And after recounting the vic- 
tories of "Pioneer," and soaring in flights of elo- 
quence, Mr. Hodgson concluded amid deafening 
applause, and the company had its picture taken. 

For many years the "old field" west of the cam- 
pus, with its two large chestnut trees, had been 
regarded as a public common. There in old 
times the fourth of July fireworks were displayed 
and the military manoeuvers were practiced; 
there the circus was wont to spread its canvass 
and leave the ring as a reminiscence of its depart- 
ed glories. There in time of war the Mitchell 
Thunderbolts shed their gory arguments on mili- 
tary tactics and in time of peace the college boy 
batted and caught out flies. 

Before its subdivision into lots the last circus 
that showed there appeared in 1872. The boys 
gave them some trouble by throwing rocks at the 
tent. Pistols were drawn and some shots ex- 
changed, but no harm was done. On his wav 
home from the show at the lower bridge Bill 
Jones was killed by a man named Aycock. Two 
years before Jones had killed Bill Puryear his 



348 

father-in-law while sitting in his front porch. 

Speaking of shows, in 1872 Athens suffered 
an invasion of them. A Mrs. Oates, a pretty 
soubrette and presumably a widow, appeared in 
comic opera and the college boys went wild about 
her. Many of them lost their heads, several their 
hearts and one after a week's acquaintance want- 
ed to marry her. Lydia Thompson, with her scan- 
tily clothed troupe, visited us in the same year, 
and Janauschek and Katie Putnam. It is a coin- 
cidence that the decline from the high moral tone 
of Athens society began about this time. 

In September 1872 dirt was broken on the 
Xorth Eastern railroad. For many years earnest 
efforts by our merchants had been made to secure 
another outlet for tli^ir commerce. The mono- 
poly of the Georgia Railroad had ground them 
between the upper and the nether mill-stones, and 
when subscriptions enough for the new road were 
in sight, the President of the Georgia road sent 
a corps of engineers to survey another route and 
so discouraged the new enterprise. Finally the 
energy of Mr. John H. Newton and a few others, 
backed by the support of Mr. Ferdinand Phinizy, 
pervailed, and the road was located under John 
Calder Turner as chief engineer. 

The dirt was broken with impressive ceremo- 
nies. A large crowd assembled in "Dr. Ware's 
woods," where the depot now stands. Dr. Henry 
Hull and Col. Wm. L. Mitchell as the two oldest 



349 



citizens, were selected to inaugurate the work. 
One wielded the pick and the other handled the 
shovel and the removal of the first dirt was at- 
tended with cheers and the inspiring strains of 
George Davis' brass band. Then followed ad- 
dresses by Lamar Cobb and Emory Speer, con- 
gratulating the citizens upon their escape from 
the tyranny of a souless monopoly, etc., and the 
company dispersed. 

The grading of the North Eastern Railroad 
developed a mineral spring not far from the depot 
which was called the Ferro Lithic Sprmg and be- 
came quite a popular resort. The water was a 
strong chalybeate and numbers of dyspeptics 
made daily pilgrimages to drink it and were 
cured — or thought they were, which answered 
the same purpose. It was really a valuable spring, 
and many teething babies were helped by its use. 
The network of railroad tracks has destroyed the 
attractiveness of the walk and the sprin^cf is rarely 
visited now. In fact, it is probable that the 
waters have deteriorated. 

Until the North Eastern Railroad was complet- 
ed Mr. R. L. Moss was superintendent, but when 
Athens was fairly in communication with the rest 
of the world via the new road, James M. Ed- 
wards was elected superintendent, and a mighty 
good one he made. He really organized the 
business of the road and showed the clear head 
and the professional training which made him 



350 

afterwards so successful in larger enterprises. W. 
H. Hodgson was the first conductor — good old 
Bill Hodgson, who was everybody's friend, was 
brimful of energy, bubbling over with good hu- 
mor and who died an untimely death. 

The city of Athens put $100,000 into the capi- 
tal stock of the North Eastern Railroad and after- 
wards gave it away to the Southern for nothing. 
The Southern in turn gave Bailey Thomas the 
Tallulah Falls Railroad for getting it for them. 
But neither one of them had any money value at 
the time. The road was encumbered by bonds 
endorsed by the State. The Southern didn't want 
it that way, so they allowed the interest to go by 
default. Then the Governor took charge and 
appointed Rufus K. Reaves manager until the 
road was sold, when the Southern bought it 
for the bonded indebtedness. 

Nothing brings about such changes in a town 
as a railroad. Not only the character and volume 
of business, but the physical features of a rail- 
road town undergo a complete change. Years ago 
— and not so very many years ago either — our 
railroad shyly refused to come nearer than the 
top of the hill across the river. Then we had 
an extensive wagon trade with the up country. 
Gainesville, Clarkesville, Elberton, Hart nnd 
Franklin Counties, and even Franklin, N. C. did 
the bulk of their trade with Athens, and the old 
schooner wagon was a familiar sight on the 
streets. 



351 



The building of the North Eastern road con- 
verted a beautiful grove alive with birds and 
squirrels, where a limpid brook hurried along by 
mossy banks to the quiet river, into a bustling 
scene of activity, noisy with the clatter of wa- 
gons, the whir of machinery and the passing of 
trains. The Macon and Covington then m/aded 
the sancitity of the City of the dead, raised an 
unsightly trestle over beautiful monuments, cut 
an enormous gash through the hills and came 
into the very bosom of the city. The Georgia 
Railroad must needs cut down trees, remove old 
land marks, blast away a hillside and run its 
trains across the public street. The Georgia 
Carolina & Northern then with a wliitf comes in 
and goes out touching lightly on the edge of town, 
crosing the river on a high bridge and leaving 
behind a deep rock cut and a smel! of powder. 

Along the line of these roads little towns 
sprang up, each absorbing the retail business of 
its neighborhood. Athens merchants developed 
a wholesale trade which has largely exceeded all 
they had before. Railroad facilities brought in 
new citizens with a demand for houses and lots. 
Then history repeated itself and the handsome old 
lots were cut up and sold ofif or built up with 
cottages. Old homes have passed from the hands 
of the family. New neighbors with bay windows 
and little hoods and towers and ginger-bread 
work are crowding them ; fine old trees have been 



352 

cut down ; the familiar mud is gone ; the gentle 
cow no longer lies across the pedestrians way ; 
there are no secluded walks left for the amorous 
swain, no gates for him to lean upon as he lingers 
to say good-bye, and the glare of the arc light 
has robbed the evening stroll of all its sentiment. 
And what is all this due to except the rushing 
competition of souless corporations ? It is enough 
to make a socialist of a man of sentiment to think 
of it. 

Until the Northeastern road was built College 
Avenue extended only to Strong Street. An 
enormous gully began at Mr. Toomer's residence, 
crossed diagonally opposite the next square and 
emptied into Holsey's pond. It was wide enough 
and deep enough to have swallowed a dozen 
cottages. It compared favorably with the Grand 
Canon of Colorado. Children j^layed in it and 
the boys of the neighborhood dug caves in its 
sides. With the completion of the railroad the 
city bridged the chasm and opened the street, then 
by driving stakes across the gully and dumping 
in debris and trash it was gradually filled. Now 
College Avenue is one of the prettiest streets in 
the city. 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

In i872 a young star made its appearance, tak- 
ing its place in the editorial firmament at the head 



353 



of the Northeast Georgian. Larry Gantt was 
not endowed with all the graces which make ha- 
voc in the hearts of women, but he made up for it 
in the activity of his mind, and in his peculiar 
use of the King's English. 

There was nothing humdrum about the North 
East Georgian. Its editorials were fresh as 
mountain dew and quite as inspiring. Its local 
columns were gorgeous with compliments to 
favored subscribers and its items of news did not 
suffer for lack of embellishments. In truth Larry 
and his father published a good paper. It suc- 
ceded the defunct Athens Banner, and revolution- 
ized the newspaper business here. 

Prior to this the newspaper contained every- 
thing but news. The local items if noticed at all 
were accompained by the statement "we were not 
present ourselves, but learn, etc." One issue of 
the Watchman said "the only item of local news 
that has occurred this week is the taking of a mule 
by a young gentleman who was under the impres- 
sion that it was his own." That faithful chroni- 
cler of the annals of the neighborhood had no 
regard for the future historian searching for 
contemporaneous records. Gantt's paper was 
different. I'he editor looked for news and if he 
didn't find it he made it. His first jubilation was 
over the election to the legislature of Dr. H. H. 
Carlton. For six years under the reconstruction 
acts Qarke county had no white man to represent 



354 



her; but in 1872 the power of the colored voter 
vas broken and thenceforth his ballot was wortli 
onl}' what it would bring in the market. 

The last Agricultural Fair, the expiring effort 
of the old county association, was held on the old 
fair grounds in October, 1872. It was a credit- 
able exhibition and not the least interesting fea- 
ture was a cooking match between two sets of 
girls, the prize for which, a stove, was won by 
Miss Bessie Rutherford, it is a misfortune that 
the County fair is a thing of the past. It might 
be a source of power to the farmer if he would 
but use it aright. Sundry attempts have been 
made to reorganize the fair but none have suc- 
ceeded. 

The year closed with a sensation in the shape 
of a duel between Tinny Rucker and Bob Lamp- 
kin, who were dissuaded from their bloody pur- 
poses at Sand Bar Ferry hx the usual intervention 
of peacemakers and were restored to their homes 
minus the fare to Augusta and return. 

The prospect of the North Eastern Railroad 
gave an impulse to real estate. The old Grady 
house which brought a year before $2,500 was 
sold for $3,250, the little house long ago known 
as "Hansel's" where Michael's building now 
stands, and not long before sold for $1,500, now 
brought $3,500. Mr. L. C. Matthews bid off the 
Adams lot on Hancock avenue half the square 
between Hull and Pulaski for $3,000 The old 



355 

Clayton lot, also half the square brought $5,700 
at public sale. The Bank of the University was 
organized in 1873, Athens received 22,000 bales 
of cotton and business was flourishing. Our 
merchants drew from a large territory bounded 
by the Piedmont Airline Railroad on the north 
and the Savannah river on the east. 

The chief executive of the town, now become 
a city, James D. Pittard, was succeeded by Dr. 
WilHam King. Dr. King was a great fisherman. 
Il was said that he could sit at a sucker hole 
and watch a cork longer than any man of his 
day and generation. He was not only a good 
fisherman, but a good doctor, a good mayor and 
a mighty clever man. 

In another year it seemed a good time to Mr. 
John H. Newton to sell off his garden on Clayton 
Street which was adorned by a ragged board 
fence whose imperfections were partially covered 
by circus pictures and posters, and fringed by a 
liberal growth of dog fennel and Jimson weed 
The corner was bought by Thomas J. Lester, 
who erected the three-story building on the corn- 
er, that dream of architecture, out of home-made 
material, himself being the architect and master 
mechanic. M. B. McGinty secured the contracts 
for Moore college, the courthouse and the South- 
ern Mutual Insurance building. Times were 
getting better and a fever for building came over 



356 



the people. In eight years the assessed vakie of 
taxable property had increased $548,000. 

One of the "new" arrivals was Wm. C. Kemp, 
a typical Irishman, including pug nose and 
brogue. He was a miller by trade and took hold 
of the "city mills" owned by the Athens Factory, 
with all the vim of his nature. Not long after 
he married the widow of Patrick Doyle and took 
hold of her belongings with equal energy. Kemp 
was a public spirited fellow, was well liked and 
became an alderman. He kept his weather eye 
open to a trade, and though there were some who 
looked in vain for something to appropriate to 
the payment of his notes, he died leaving his 
widow in better shape than he found her. 

Perhaps the hardest rain ever known in this 
section fell in February, 1873. It began raining 
a<" 6 o'clock Saturday morning and rained with- 
out cessation till noon on Sunday. Four and one- 
half inches fell during that time, and yet but 
little damage was done. 

By the death of Long Goody Smith, in 1873, a 
striking and familiar figure, was removed from 
our midst. Very tall and very thin and very 
lazy, Goody made a slender support by fishing, 
butchering and by setting out young shade trees, 
none of which required any more energy than 
his gothic architcture could sustain. 

Long Goody recalls some other members of 
the Smith familv in times gone bv who illustrat- 



357 



ed the history of Clarke County. At one time 
there were seven John Smiths, all voters. To 
distingviish them they were known as Redhead 
John, Roundhead John, Long John, Onearm 
John, Saddler John, Fiddler John and Singlefoot 
John. By these names they were called by the 
sheriff and enrolled on the voters list. I'here 
was also Box Ancle Smith, whose name was n-^^t 
John. 

"Befo' de war" ready-made shoes were almost 
unknown. Women and children wore shoes, but 
gentlemen wore boots and it was a boys highest 
ambition to have a pair of boots. For darices 
and such occasions "pumps" were worn. :^ut 
whether shoes or slippers or boots all wer.e made 
by the shoemaker by measure. 

There were three well known shoemakers in 
Athens, William Stark, Patrick Barry and Char- 
ley Hughes. William Stark had the misfortune 
t*:^ have his leg broken by a falling house in Co- 
lumbus necessitating its amputation. He went on 
crutches ever afterwards. He was an active 
exhorter in the Methodist church and made a 
fervent prayer, the which in no way interfered 
with his being an artist in making boots which 
fit every undulation of the foot and never rubbed 
the heels. He was a kindly man and has cut 
me many a leather top string for nothing. Mr. 
Stark was the grandfather of F. H. Kroner, of 
Winterville. 



358 



Patrick Barry was an Irishman pure and sim- 
ple witli all his big heart and brogue. At one 
time he was not unmindful of the exhiliarating 
effect of whiskey and there were occasions when 
it were better if he had let it alone, but neverthe- 
less he was a good shoemaker and many a col- 
lege boy in that day and time bought his boots 
and owed him money.. He prospered in busi- 
ness took in Charley Hughes as a partner and 
BARRY & HUGHES 
BOOTS AND SHOES 
was a familiar legend on the corner below the 
National Bank. Capt Barry — I don't know 
where he got his title — lived to a good old age a 
familiar figure on the streets and died leaving 
a good p-roperty to his family. 

Charley Hughes poor fellow, became too fond 
of the cup which inebriates and does not always 
cheer. He lost his partnership, then his patron- 
age and passed from the sight of men having 
done no harm to anybody but himself and his 
children. 

Still another son of St. Crispin was Peter 
Weil, a good natured Schlesburg-Holsteiner, who 
enlisted in the Highland Guards and fought to 
the finish. Why this Teuton who could hardly 
speak English should have left his family and 
volunteered in our fight with nothing but hard- 
ship and hunger for pay, does not appear. He 
must have loved a fight for he threw up a fur- 



359 



lough once and went back to his company on 
the eve of a battle. And yet Peter Weil was as 
inild a mannered man in time of peace as one 
would meet in a days journey. 

After the war Mr. Weil was inveigled into 
farming. But trouble came upon him and he 
returned to his first love, an illustration of the 
adage "ne sutor ultra crepidam." 

But the time had come when the mechanic dis- 
placed the cobbler and Othello's occupation was 
gone. In 1875 Capt. J. W. Brumby built a shoe 
factory which supplied shoes to laborers, but 
did not undertake to make the dainty slipper for 
the commencement girl. Then the ubiquitous 
^ ankee with his universal wares began shipping 
in his shoes which looked so much better than 
our home made ones and in fact were cheaper 
that one more Southern industry was ruined. 

CHAPTER XLVII. 

The origin of the Lucy Cobb Institute has al- 
ready been given in these pages, but it was the 
untiring energy of Thomas R. R. Cobb which 
made the conception an accomplished fact. He 
canvassed the town, enthused the people, got 
subscriptions and organized the Trustees. Some 
subscribed money, some merchandise, some mate- 
rials. He sold the merchandise, used the mate- 
rials and collected the monev. When a citizen 



360 



was backward in subscribing he subscribed for 
him and said, "if you don't pay it I wilh" 

Mr. Cobb bought the lot from the University 
and gave his personal note for it. He dre^^' the 
charter, which is comprised in less than fifty 
lines, and had it passed by the Legislature. He 
gave his personal atention to furnishing the 
school, and was the life of the enterprise. 

The school was at first called the Athens Fe- 
male Academy, but in recognition of Mr. Cobb's 
services, after the death of his daughter, the 
Trustees gave it the name it now bears. 

The Lucy Cobb has done a great work. Not 
less than fifteen hundred gihls have been taught 
there, and many of its Alumnae have themselves 
become teachers. It has always had high ideals 
and stood for all that is best in moral and in- 
tellectual culture. 

Whatever other attractions Athens may have, 
most dear to the heart of the College boy is the 
Lucy Cobb girl. There is some subtile influence 
pervading the school which makes all the girls 
who go there at once attractive. Plain girls be- 
come good looking ; pretty girls become still 
prettier ; slim girls fill out and develop pretty 
figures ; awkward girls grow graceful ; anaemic 
symptoms disappear from pale girls and roses 
glow on all their cheeks. In fact there is a di- 
vinity which shapes up the Lucy Cobb girl, how- 
ever rough have they been before. Boys simply 



361 



can't keep away from them. They never could. 
In a letter written by William Hope Hull to Mrs. 
Howell Cobb in 1859 he says : "Tom is worrying 
because the boys will gather in front of the 
church to see the Lucy Cobb girls come out," 
and that was nearly fifty years ago. They have 
been doing it ever since. 

Before the war and afterwards Mrs. Lambert's 
lot was vacant, and there was a plain plank 
fence around it. On this fence at the corner 
the boys would gather regularly when it didn't 
rain until it was dubbed "The Buzzard's Roost." 

Depredations there used to be, and inexcusa- 
ble vandalism. On the lawn there once stood 
statues and iron figures of deer and dogs. Some 
miscreants broke them in pure wantonness, and 
there are left only the figures on goats at either 
end of the verandah. Painting the goats has 
been a favorite amusement for years and every 
Freshy thinks the idea original with him. 

In 1859 there was given a May Festival, 
which is part of the history of Lucy Cobb. Not 
a few of the actors, some of them grandmother.s 
now, some — maids, will recall it with pleasure. 
The stage was projected in front of the veran- 
dah. Vines and evergreens hid the walls and the 
declining sun threw a grateful shade over the 
sylvan scene. Improvised seats extending into 
the street held the expectant audience, among 
v.'hom the Athens Guards and the Fire Companies 



362 



were conspicuous with their bright uniforms. 

Fairies singing in the distance come upon the 
scene. NelHe Barrow, SalHe Hamilton, Vallie 
Long, CalHe Cobb and Annie White, lead by 
their Queen, Belle Harris, all dressed in dia- 
phanous tarleton, flitting lightly to and fro 
Then the Nymphs and Naiads, Clara Barrow, 
Sally Cobb, Lizzie Scudder, Hattie Clancey and 
Lizzie Hodgson, emerge from leafy hiding place- 
followed by Diana and her huntresses, to-wit : 
Kate Hammond, Lucy Thomas, Lucy Barrow 
and Julia Carlton, with bows and cjuivers full of 
arrows, in costumes the verdanc}' of which 
would have satisfied St. Patrick himself. In 
t[uick succession come Emma Simpson as Venus 
with Nettie Lombard as Cupid, and the Sea- 
sons, Piney Thomas. Belle Hardeman, Mary 
Linton and Julia Moss, with Fannie Harris as 
Hope, Shepherdesses and Iris and Ceres, and all 
the goddesses you ever heard of. 

With a mad whirl of song and dance come next 
the Gipsies, led by Maggie White, their Queen, 
among them Mary Hamilton and Lucy Vincent. 

A way being cleared by the Guards forth come 
Flora in the person of Ada Tumlin, with Anna 
McWhorter, Mary Long, Mary Ann McCles- 
key, Susie Hill, Mary Ann Rutherford and Lucy 
Gerdine scattering flowers in the pathway with 
songs and dancing. And then the lovely Queen 
of May, Serena Cox, supported by her maidi- 



363 



of honor, Sallie Chase, Mary Lamar and Netth 
Vincent, entered, with Lollie Hull, a diminu- 
tive Page in blue and silver, holding her train, 
and ascended the throne. 

Of course this programme included the 
speeches usual to such occasions. After the clos- 
ing ceremonies the College boys had their in- 
nings, the sentiment of the times being to en- 
courage an association which might lead to more 
than friendship. And after all was done the 
entire company was invited to a substantial re- 
past to which they all did full justice. 

Lucy Cobb was under the direction successively 
of Mr. Wright, Mr. Miller. Mr. Jacobs. Miss 
Lipscomb, Madame Sosnowski and Mrs. Wright. 
I'nder these regimes it passed through the de- 
moralization of war to the stringency of the re- 
construction period, its financial condition grow- 
irig steadily worse. 

In 1880 Miss Millie Rutherford leased the 
school, undertaking to pay all of its debts. What 
her success has been need hardly be told here. 
In 1895, tired of the responsibility. Miss Ruther- 
ford surrendered the care of the Institute to Mrs 
M. A. Lipscomb while she retained a teacher's 
p'ace. Mrs. Lipscomb has proved an ideal Prin- 
cipal and under the wise guidance of these two 
remarkable women Lucy Cobb has steadily pros- 
]>ered until it is now one of the best known and 
Hiost ])';pular schools in the South. It has no en- 



364 

dowment ; it has no denominational backing ; it 
has no weahhy friend to look to in time of finan- 
cial pressure. Its only endowment is its reputa- 
tion ; its backing is the love of its Alumnae and 
its help in stress of weather is the brave heart and 
clear head of its Principal. 

For many years the old bowling alley was the 
only building in which public exercises could be 
held. The crying need for a chapel was first 
made known in an essay by Miss Bessie Thur- 
mond, at the commencement of 1879, entitled 
"Our Chapel." A meeting of the friends of the 
school was called and a committee appointed "to 
see about it." Miss Nellie Stovall, one of the 
most attractive and brightest of the Lucy Cobb 
girls, at a venture wrote to Mr. George I. Senev. 
of New York, setting forth the needs of the In- 
stitute, who replied to her, offering to give $5,000 
for a chapel if the citizens would raise $4,000. 
The citizens did raise the $4,000 ; but without 
waiting for them to do so, Mr. Seney raised his 
gift to $10,000, and sent his check for that 
amount to Miss Rutherford. Mr. Seney became 
interested in the school and afterwards gave it 
a pipe organ and a number of valuable paint- 
ings. 

Lucy Cobb has an exceptional record for 
health. No pupil has ever died at the school, nor 
has a serious case of illness occurred there. No 



365 



breath of scandal has ever attached to anyone 
connected with the school. 

On a certain April day the girls got on a lark, 
slipped through a crack in the side fence and stole 
off down town — some bareheaded, some with 
what covering they could pick up on the way. 
Getting a wagon, they drove across the river and 
back up town to the school. By that time the 
Principal was in a state of mind and before the 
girls went in to dinner they wished they hadn't. 
But that April fool's frolic was nothing more than 
the overspill of exuberant spirits, and at this dis- 
tnnce even Mrs. Lipscomb can laugh at it. 

Lucy Cobb commencement is perhaps the 
greatest social attraction of which Athens can 
boast. Visitors come to it from far and near. 
The music, the stage decorations, the brilliantly 
lighted lawn, and most of all. the girls always 
draw crowds and in all the variations of the pro- 
gramme, calisthenics, dances, recitations, songs 
or plays the chapel is always crowded and the 
audience always pleased. But it is the sweet girl 
graduate on commencement night, dressed in 
v/hite or pink and looking sweet enough to eat, 
who is the crowning glory of the commencement 
and the young male spectator is pretty apt to suf- 
fer a coup de pied when he sees her later in thv; 
evenins:. 



366 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

An enterprise which promised well but failed 
disastrously was the Athens Steam Laundry. It 
was in 1875 that it was organized in the expec- 
tation, not only that it would prove profitable, 
but that so many negro washerwomen finding 
their occupation gone would take service; as 
cooks. But no sooner was the laundry in opera- 
tion and had fixed its prices than the colored 
rival lowered her rates and kept her patronage. 
The laundry ran a short career and was sold for 
debt. The property lay idle for twenty years and 
v,'as gradually rotting down when the present 
owners came into possession. 

One of the most remarkable religious meet- 
ings which Athens ever experienced was what 
was known as the Munday meetings. J. A. Mun- 
day was an evangelist who began a series of meet- 
ings, his exhortations consisting chiefly of his 
own history before his reformation. Interest in 
the services grew until no church could hold the 
crowd and they were moved to Deupree Hall, 
All the churches united in the revival. Hundreds 
of people were influenced and many joined the 
churches. Munday decided to study for the min- 
iirtry and went to a theological seminary. He sub- 
sequently married an attractive young lady of this 
place and died a few years afterwards. 

A critic so disposed might bring a severe in- 



367 



dictment against Athens society for deteriorating 
in the matter of social entertainments. At the 
present time gentlemen are practically barred 
fiom society and all the ladies do is to play cards. 
It is claimed by devotees of the game that it is 
the easiest way to entertain. That is surely a 
confession of intellectual inferiority, which does 
the ladies an injustice. In the days not too far 
back for many of my readers to recall, the even- 
ing "party" included conversation, music, other 
games than cards, sometimes charades and occa- 
sionally a comic opera or a play. The inter- 
mingling of the sexes stimulated — if it were 
necessar}^ — the ladies' tongues, while it refined 
the manners of the men. The association was 
helpful and delightful. It was an intellectual 
stimulus and led to friendships, courtships and 
marriage. 

But times change and opinions about amuse- 
ments change as well as the times. For instance, 
in the earlier years of our history, students in 
the college were held to strict observance of the 
Sabbath, and were permitted to take a quiet walk 
not more than a mile from the campus. The cir- 
cus was regarded as a delusion and a snare, and 
under no circumstances were students permitted 
to attend it. Professors kept close watch upon 
the tent, and in order to elude them, it was often 
necessary for the boys to blacken their faces and 
sit with the negroes. But in 1868, the Faculty 



368 



advanced the afternoon recitation to 12 o'clock 
so as to give the boys an opportunity to go to 
the circus, and since that time, there has been 
no inhibition on that amusement, provided, it 
does not conflict with any college exercise. 

In 1822, J. B. was dismissed "for playing at 
the unlawful game of cards." Three years later, 
a hungry trio of youths were remanded to the 
grammar school for "bringing into college and 
preparing for eating, fowls." What the grava- 
men of this offense was, we do not know. Pos- 
sibly some professor had missed a favorite hen 
and suspected the perpetrators of the theft, and 
the tell-tale feathers may have betrayed them. A 
littl later, five students were reprimanded for be- 
ing found in an unoccupied house "eating cordial, 
wine, fowles and cakes, with fiddling and danc- 
ing." One sentimental swain was dismissed foi 
"fiddling out at night,' and another was fined $1 
"for fluting." 

In the post-bellum days dances were not un- 
common, but it was the quadrille and the reel 
which tempted the light fantastic toe — the dance 
which began with "slute yer partners." The 
waltz was hardly recognized ; it was "off color," 
and the girl who danced the round dance was 
looked at askance. The german was unknown 
and the Boston dip was unborn. And this re- 
minds me of an old invitation to a "Cotillon 
Party" at Jackson's Hotel on May 2, 1832, issued 



369 



by William Bacon, L. Franklin and S. J. Mays, 
managers. Who that ever knew Mr. Mays, that 
staid and sober old Methodist, would suppose that 
he- ever aided and abetted this worldly amuse- 
ment or swung- corners to the tune of "Billy in 
the Low Grounds?" 

Theatricals were tolerated, but not encouraged. 
Two companies were wont to visit us — Wm. H. 
Crisp's and John Templeton's— and the old Town 
Hall, with its dirty wooden benches, was fairlv 
well filled, while "Macbeth" strode across a 10x15 
stage, curtained with calico and lighted by a 
dozen candles. There was an amateur troupe, 
too, called the Thespians, in which Rob Hodg- 
son, A. D. Wamling and John Gilleland were 
stars, which succumbed under the meagre sup- 
port given them. 

Cards were chiefly known in their relation 
to "seven up," and if the paterfamilias with his 
neighbors occasionally indulged in a rubber of 
whist, it was not spoken of above a whisper. Pro- 
gressive euchre with its delusive prize had not 
been discovered. 

The hospitality of the people was boundless 
and social functions were numerous. "A party" 
always meant besides the intellectual features of 
the evening, an elaborate supper at the last. 
Church-going was universal and the night ser- 
vices were well attended. It was the fashion for 
the young men to take the girls to church Sun- 



370 



clay night and engagements were made month? 
before hand. Sunday visiting, now alas ! so com- 
Hion, was unheard of, except among near rela- 
tives. The picnic was an institution, always pop- 
ular, whether in some sylvan retreat or deserted 
mill, and the old Fair Grounds were called into 
frequent recpiisition for that purpose. 

The young people "got up" shows and con- 
certs and the older people enjoyed them. All thai 
was needed was a worthy object and the show 
was forthcoming. The Athens Guards, the Fire 
Company, the Sunday schools called for aid, but 
the Confederate Monument was the favorite bene- 
ficiary. 

One of these benefits was a May party given 
in 1870 by the girls, which was followed by a bur- 
lesque by the college boys. The girls looked love- 
ly. The characters were not new nor was the plot 
exciting, but every participant was as pretty as 
a picture, the programme was carried out with- 
out a break and the audience was delighted. 

Miss Millie Rutherford was Queen of May, 
Miss Lilla Bearing the Fairy Queen, and Miss 
Mary Ann Frierson, Queen of the Gipsies. Miss 
Tula Phinizy was Night; Miss Lucy Thomas, 
Diana. The other characters I do not remember. 
The burlesque given by the college students a 
few nights afterwards was one of the funniest 
shows we ever had. The libretto was written by 
Walter Hill and was irresistably funny. 



371 



All the original characters were represented 
and their attitudes, gestures and mistal^es wei" 
imitated and exaggerated. W. D. Tramniell was 
selected for Queexi of the May for his personal 
unattractions, but declined and Jesse Goss was 
chosen as his substitute. Walter Kill as Herald 
came out blowing a little tin horn and in a high 
shrill voice announced the coming of the royal 
party. Wash Dessau as Queen of the Gypsies, 
danced out with his followers beating tin pans, 
Dave Barrow was Queen of the Poppies — all the 
Poppies had spike-tail coats with big paper flow- 
ers for buttons. Miller DuBose, impersonating 
Night, came out with a lantern, declaiming : "Oh, 
Luna, thou art the Moon !" Tom Heard sang 
effectively "Chicka-dee-dee," holding the hand of 
M. D. C. M. Summerlin, who was Cupid. Nat 
Harris, who was Darby, with his Joan, sang 
melodiously "There Was a Ram in Darby." O. 
A. Bull sang "Shoo Fly." The Gossy Queen en- 
tered supported by Henry Goetchius and Edgar 
Simmons as Guards, botli fortified with old army 
muskets, sabres and pistols, and was crowned 
with a shuck horse collar by Gus Glenn. The 
Fairy Queen, known as Douglas Peabody off the 
stage, with a bevy of short-skirted fairies, includ- 
ing Azmon Murphey, John Hardeman, Peter 
Martin and other heavyweights, waltzed in, 
danced around Jack Jackson and plaited him up 
with cotton ropes. Jack was taller and slimmer 



372 



than he is now and made an ideal May pole. The 
show was a great success, and half the people 
who went couldn't get in. The two netted $8ck") 
for the monument. 

Another mixed entertainment was given "for 
the benefit of Mrs. Stonewall Jackson." There 
was a play in whi>:h Sylvanus Morris and John 
Hope Hull were stars, songs by Miss Ria Bear- 
ing, a charade by Rob Coates, W. D. Griffith and 
other theatrical persons, and instrumental music. 
One of the very best amateur performances was 
* Our Mutual Friend," dramatized by Mrs. E. A. 
Crawford and presented by the Dickens Club at 
a private residence. Hal Linton as the Cherub 
Miss Rosa Deloney as Bella and Miss Leila Hull 
as Mrs. Wilfer could not be surpassed by pro- 
fesionals even. 

In those days it was not thought amiss to give 
a supper for one of the churches. Some of these 
were very enjoyable and all financially disastrous 
to the young fellows who had friends among the 
girls. And suppers were suppers then. When 
the guests at a "party" were invited in to supper 
there on the meat table were oysters and one or 
two turkeys and possibly a roast pig and a bowl 
ox chicken salad. On the main table were large 
cakes iced and ornamented, small heart cakes, a 
wonderful centerpiece of cake or spun candy, 
fruits, roll wafers, love pufifs, bowls of sillabub 
and Charlotte Russe, and always a big fruit cake. 



373 



I\ow a little cake and ice cream, a little salad on 
a lettuce leaf, a small biscuit and an olive and a 
glass of so-called punch ! And I have heard that 
sometimes crackers and tea were all the menu ! 

Speaking- of cakes, though, in 1840 Francis 
Waldron advertised that he "will bake a com- 
mencement cake weighing 250 pounds, trimmed 
and ornamented in a style that cannot be excelled, 
which will be cut August 5th in slices to suit cus- 
tomers." Waldron kept a confectioner's store on 
Broad Street below Bishop's corner. . 

Recalling these various forms of amusement to 
mind we may well ask the question "Are the pop- 
ular amusements of this present day helpful to 
any kind of development ; are they in any sense 
improving, and are they really enjoyable ?" 

A lady or gentleman is rarely asked to sing at 
an evening entertainment. Girls who have prac- 
tised assiduously on the piano give up their music 
because they are never asked to play. A game 
which demands even a little intellectual effort is 
discouraged. Ladies who are devotees to the 
whist clubs declare that cards bore them. Then 
to what end is the kind of modern amusements? 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

A citizen who was an honor to Athens was 
Dr. Crawford W. Long, the discoverer of anas- 
thaesia. Dr. Long was modest almost to timidity 



374 

and for that reason never took the place in the 
community to which he was entitled and for the 
same reason when he discovered the anasthetic 
effect of ether made no claim to any credit for 
it. Not until an act was about to be passed by 
Congress to grant an honorarium to another 
claimant did Dr. Long assert himself and bring 
proof that his discovery antedated the others sev- 
eral years. The evidence was indisputable and has 
been accepted by all the medical associations of 
any standing in this country and in England. 
Dr. Long was a good practitioner and was for a 
time surgeon in the Confederate army. He was 
stricken with paralysis at the bedside of a pa- 
tient and died soon afterwards, in 1877. 

The Legislature of Georgia has twice named 
Dr. Long as one of two great Georgians whose 
statues should adorn the Capitol at Washington, 
but the statues have never yet been sculptured. 

An admirer of Dr. Long, Mr. Henry L. Stuart, 
of New York, presented an oil painting of the 
discoverer of anasthaesia to the State of Georgia, 
which was formally accepted by Governor 'Gor- 
don and now hangs in the Capitol. A week after- 
wards Mr. Stuart was stricken with apoplexy in 
the home of the Longs in Athens and died there. 
He is buried beside Dr. Long in Oconee ceme- 
tery. 

Among the classmates of Dr. Long was Jno. D. 
Diometari, a native of Greece. How he came 



375 



to Georgia is not known, but the Presbyterian 
Educational Society, a local organization of that 
day, adopted him and sent him to college with the 
ultimate view o£ his entering the ministry. If 
Diometari ever had that idea, he soon abandoned 
it, and it was not long before he was initiated into 
the mysteries of "High, Low, Jack and the 
Game." He was brought up by the faculty, his 
stipend was withdrawn by the society and there 
seemed nothing for John but to leave college. 
Being a general favorite, however, friends inter- 
fered with timely aid and the trustees remitted 
his tuition fees. Still he was compelled to leave 
college before graduating. The following reso- 
lution, in the ornate style of the day, appears in 
the minutes of the trustees : "A meritorious young 
foreigner, the native of a country whose history 
forms so large a portion of the meditations of the 
classical student, who has thrown himself upon 
our hospitality and proved himself worthy of it 
by the fidelity with which he has discharged his 
duties as a student in this institution, ought not 
t(^ be deprived of any of the advantages which it 
can afford to him because, yielding to the pressure 
of necessity, he has retired from it before the final 
examination of his class. Therefore, be it 

"Resolved, That the degree of A. B. be con- 
ferred on Mr. John D. Diometari." 

Diometari was a smart fellow and quite popu- 
lar with all classes. Later in life he was appoint- 



376 



ed American consul at Athens, in his native coun- 
try, where he sustained himself with credit. 

Years ago there came to Athens from West- 
ern North Carolina to buy goods a sandy-haired 
simple, honest man named Peter A. Summey. 
Afterwards he came and stayed. He married the 
sister of John H. Christy and a better or more 
kind-hearted pair than Mr. and Mrs. Summey 
never lived. Mr. Summey prospered until the 
war and afterwards, but crediting farmers who 
staked their all on cotton ruined him. In 1878, 
having lost his home and everything eise, he and 
his wife opened a students' boarding house in Old 
College. The boys used to impose dreadfully on 
this amiable old couple and disorder reigned su- 
preme. Of course, they complained of the fare, 
but cheap board meant poor food and the "Sum- 
mey House biscuit" proved a dyspeptic germ 
when fresh and a dangerous projectile when stale, 
INlr. Summey for a long time sang bass in the 
Methodist choir — at least he was supposed to do 
so since he stood with the bassos and his lips 
moved in unison with theirs. He was a good 
man and everybody esteemed him. 

For nearly twenty years one man to whom tho 
college boy was wont to turn for comfort was L. 
Flisch. Mr. Flisch was a Swiss and with his 
excellent wife lived just above the hotel, very 
convenient to the thirsty student. He dispensed 
ice cream and a variety of cakes and other tempt- 



377 



ing things, and into his till went many a quarter 
and on his books went many more. It was the 
quarters on his books which persistently remained 
there, that drove Mr. Flisch away. He said 
so long as he stayed in Athens he would have to 
credit the boys and so long as he credited them 
they wouldn't pay — so he moved away in self- 
defense. Mr. Flisch was an elder in the Pres- 
byterian church and an excellent man, though 
somewhat solemn of visage. He moved to Au- 
gusta in 1883, where he continued to tempt the 
palate with sweetmeats. Mr. Flisch's daugh- 
ter. Miss Julia, is the only woman on whom the 
University of Georgia has conferred a degree. 

A sad occurrence happened in 1877. LaFay- 
ette Maupin was a young man who had saved a 
little money and invested it in a stock of goods in 
a wooden store on the corner of Thomas and 
Clayton Streets. He had been married a few 
months to a pretty young girl barely 16 years of 
age, when one August night his store caught fire 
and burned down. Two days later Maupin walk- 
ed down to the Mineral Spring, turned off into a 
thicket of pines behind Dr. Lyndon's house, laid 
down and shot himself through the head. The 
girl was distracted with grief and soon after- 
wards the family moved away, I know not where. 



378 

CHAPTER L. 

Clarke County since Oconee was cut off from 
it has never had a hanging. Some years ago a 
negro was found guilty of the murder of Henry 
Hunter and was sentenced to be hung, but 
through the efforts of Rev. J. L. Stevens the sen- 
tence was commuted to life imprisonment. 

But long ago there was a peculiar case in which 
Thomas Wells was convicted of the murder of' 
Peter Perry by evidence furnished by the mur- 
dered man after his death. 

It was in 1820 that Wells, who had a hand- 
some wife, grew insanely jealous of Perry, sought 
a difficulty with him and challenged him to a duel. 
Perry declared his innocence of any improper 
conduct and his belief in the virtue of the lady 
and refused to fight. Sometime afterwards Perry 
was found one morning in his garden dead from 
a shotgun wound. No one had seen the difficulty 
and the murder was a mystery. On opening the 
will of the murdered man it stated that he ex- 
pected every day to be assassinated by Thomas 
Wells, who hated him without cause and he en- 
joined his friends, whose names were there re- 
corded, Mr. Thomas Hancock being one of them, 
to prosecute Wells for his murder. Wells' man- 
ner on being arrested, the paper wadding found 
by the body, and his recently discharged shotgun 
were all put in evidence at the trial. He was in- 



379 



dieted and was tried for murder before Judge 
riavton. The challenge sent Perry and threats 
made by the accused were proven and the ac- 
cusation of the dead man was sustained. Wells 
was convicted of murder and was hung in Wat- 
kinsville. Both of these men lived in Clarke 
County and were prosperous and well-to-do, own- 
ine both land and negroes. 

The Collegiate Institute, alias the University 
High School, alias Rock College, was built in 
1859 and was designed for the Freshman and 
Sophomore classes of the University. It was 
soon seen that the Fresh and Sophs wouldn't go 
there — they said they would stay at home sooner 
— and the plan was changed so as to make it a 
preparatory department of the University. 

The school was opened the first year of the 
war under Mr. Benjamin R. Carroll, of Charles- 
ton, with Mr. L. H. Charbonnier as his assistant. 
Mr. Carroll was a capable principal of great dig- 
nity and with a deliberateness of speech that took 
no note of the flight of time. Many sons of refu- 
gees and others from Charleston, Savannah and 
Augusta, as well as the majority of the boys in 
town, were sent there to be put under the ad- 
mirable control of these gentlemen. The boys 
were formed into companies and instructed in 
military tactics by Captain Charbonnier, himself 
a French soldier and a graduate of St. Cyr. 
When the act of Congress was passed requiring 



380 

the enrollment of youths between the ages of 17 
and 18, the Secretary of War detailed these high 
school boys for local defense. 

After the war Prof. B. T. Hunter and Mr. W. 
W. Lumpkin conducted a prosperous school on 
the premises and many of their scholars were 
maimed soldiers, some of them yet in life among 
the influential men of the State. Mr. Lumpkin 
was a teacher "non fit sed nascitur." He had 
the gift of imparting knowledge and made the 
subject attractive to the student. He had a won- 
derful way with boys With the little fellows 
he had more mysteriovis confidences and secret 
negotiations than one man could well take care of. 
He kept them always interested in their work 
and when he announced that he would tell stories 
or the big rock next Saturday half the school 
would be on hand to hear him. He was an ideal 
Sunday school superintendent and it was a public 
loss when Mr. Lumpkin moved to Atlanta, where 
he found a broader field and more remunerative 
compensation for his work. 

To recur to Rock College, it was in after years 
turned over to the School of Agriculture and be- 
came known as the University Farm. A great 
deal of fun has been poked at this farm and some 
well deserved criticisms have been passed upon 
it from time to time, but it was the best which 
could be done under the circumstances. 

In 1892 the Trustees set apart this property 



381 



to the use of a Normal School, and after per- 
sistent efforts the Legislature established the 
State Normal School as a branch college of the 
University. It was supported in its infancy by 
the Trustees and by private contributions from 
the citizens. Capt. S. D. Bradwell was its first 
President and made a capital President, too, even 
if he did stick the dormitory endwise to the front 
street. He worked assiduously to popularize the 
school and first solved the problem of cheap 
board, which has really put the school in reach 
of so many young people in the State. 

The Normal School is now firmly established. 
Every year it is crowded to its utmost capacity, 
and although four large buildings have been 
added to the old ones, the demand for more room 
continues. In 1841 this entire property "in the 
fork of the road" was woodland and w^as offered 
for sale by William Brown. 

CHAPTER LI. 

No sketch of Athens could afford to omit men- 
tion of the Home School kept by those excellent 
ladies, Madame and Miss Callie Sosnowski. The 
Sosnowskis were in Columbia when Sherman 
burned the city and, of course, their school there 
was utterly broken up. They came to Athens and 
took charge of the Lucy Cobb Institute. After 
the death of Mrs. Schaller, Madame 's eldest 



382 

daughter, they opened the Home School in Mrs. 
Baxter's old home. Here many daughters of 
Georgia were educated and the admirers of the 
Home School girls and of the Lucy Cobb girls 
never could agree as to which were the prettier. 

Madam Sosnowski was a Pole and she was a 
princess in grace and courtesy of manner. She 
was highly educated, a brilliant musician and of 
very distinguished appearance. It was an edu- 
cation to a girl to be associated with the Madame 
and Miss Callie. The Baxter place proved too 
small for the school and it vv^as removed to the 
old home of Judge Lumpkin, which was an ideal 
place for it. Here the Home School flourished 
until the failing health and death of Madame 
brought it to a final close. 

A gentleman of the old school — not of the 
Home School — was Albin P. Bearing. Reared 
in wealth, he lived in affluence, in the enjoyment 
of an elegant home, fine horses, blooded cattle 
and the things which wealth supplies. In busi- 
ness Mr. Bearing was a banker, but he was too 
liberal a man to drive a sharp bargain, too gener- 
ous to press a creditor, and he made no great 
money at that. He had a high sense of honor 
and the man who once deviated from his ide^l 
never regained a place in his esteem. For that 
reason he was believed to have prejudices against 
some men. Perhaps he did. He was courteous 
to all and whatever others might do, Mr. Bear- 



383 



ing never forgot that he himself was a gentle- 
man. 

Mr. Bearing had a very florid face, though 
an extremely temperate man, and very white hair, 
but there was none of the infirmity of age about 
him. His step was firm and his movements quick 
and up to his last illness he never felt that old 
age was creeping upon him unawares. He was 
fatally stricken with paralysis one morning in 
his buggy while on his way down town. 

An institution of which Athens is justly proud 
and which is unique in its class is the Southern 
Mutual Insurance Company. This company was 
organized in Griffin by a ]\lr. Parsons, but almost 
immediately located in Athens. Asbury Hull 
was its first president and continued so until his 
death. 

Its first serious loss came near swamping the 
Company and had the president not advanced 
the money to pay it, the Southern Mutual would 
be today but a memory of the past. 

In 1883 more than a million dollars of assetts 
had been accumulated when a bill was filed bv 
some of the stockholders, so called, to compel the 
Directors to divide the excess over its legal re- 
serve. After. considerable litigation a decree was 
rendered under which something over $200,000 
was distributed among all the policy-holders past 
and present, where they could be found. The 
attorneys for the policy-holders, Henry Jackson, 



384 

H. H. Carlton, E. K. Lumpkin and J. H. Lump- 
kin, got fees of $15,000 each. 

The return premiums paid by this Company 
give its poHcy-holders the cheapest insurance in 
the world. 

The relation of a physician to his patient is of 
succh a nature that he is regarded more as a 
member of the family than even as a friend. 
Doctors R. M. Smith and Joseph B. Carlton were 
contemporaries in the practice of medicine and 
eeach had a devoted clientelle. Dr. Smith was 
short in statute and a great sufferer from asth- 
ma. He was Intendant before Athens ever had 
a Mayor, and a Mason of the Thirty-Third De- 
gree, whatever that may be. His home was on 
the Opera House square, but he died in Gaines- 
ville, while on a visit to relatives. 

Dr. Carlton on the contrary was a large man 
with a splendid physique, which he impaired by 
exposure, dying in the prime of life. He too, 
left his practice to serve awhile in public life. 
Both were for a time surgeons in the army, Dr. 
Smith of the i6th Georgia, and Dr. Carlton of 
Toombs' Regiment. 

Nearly sixty years ago there came to Athens 
a young Irishman with his wife, moving into a 
little house on the corner of the Catholic Church 
lot. Mr. Cobb, who was their landlord, be- 
friended them and set them up in business as the 
successors of A. Brydie in a low wooden store 



385 



where the McDowell building stands on College 
avenue. This jolly good natured Irishman was 
William McDowell— "Mr. Mac," as the boys all 
called him — genial and generous, who dispensed 
candy and gave credit the one as cheerfully as 
the other. He prospered and bought the old 
wooden store. 

During the war Mr. Mac disappeared, leaving 
behind his wife, who scuffled to support her- 
self and two little chcildren like many another 
woman did in those days. After the war closed 
the truant husband returned and opened a har- 
ness shop. It was said that he had gone to Ohio, 
but he never told where he had been. At any rate 
he was an industrious citizen, replaced the old 
wooden shanty with the brick store and there 
he and his son conducted a profitable business in 
fancy groceries. Mr. Mac was stricken with 
paralysis and lingered almost helpless for several 
years before his death. 

Willy McDowell was a popular young man, 
an ardent fireman and Captain of the Pioneers. 
His Irish blood cropped out at election times and 
his influence was sought by candidates. In a 
fit of mania resulting from poor health, he shot 
himself. 

Two Israelites who settled here just in time to 
be caught amidships by the war were Moses 
Myers and Gabriel Jacobs. Of course they went 
into dry goods, which afterwards became any 



386 

and all kinds of goods. When the conscript law- 
was passed Jacobs was physically exempt, but 
Moses Myers was a healthy able-bodied man. 
He developed a sore on his leg which got worse, 
and all through the war he hobbled about on 
crutches with bandaged foot, suffering twinges 
of acute pain whenever he met anybody. The 
boys used to say he rubbed his leg with a brick 
to keep it sore, and Luche McCleskey and Tinn\ 
Rucker, Ics infants tcrrihlcs, yelled "Bricks" ar 
him whenever he appeared on the street. But 
it wasn't Moses Myers' fight, and he can't be 
blamed for wanting to keep out of it. and a sore 
shin was preferable to a bullet through the head. 
After the surrender Mr. Myers' leg got well and 
he became one of our best citizens. He was an 
honest man, reliable in his dealings, faithful to 
his contracts, and Jew and Gentile alike regret- 
ted his death. 

All I recall about Gabriel Jacobs during the 
war is that he made soldiers' caps. He made one 
for me when I went to the army, which I thought 
then and still think was the nattiest, jauntiest 
cap a soldier ever wore, and ought to have been 
preserved in a glass case. G. Jacobs was the 
father of Joseph Jacobs, the Atlanta pharmacist. 
who was born and raised in Athens. 

While the Jews of old were a warlike people 
their modern descendants are not inclined to war. 
But Caspar Morris was one Israelite who vol- 



387 



unteered and served as a private in the i6th 
Georgia for four years, taking his share of dan- 
ger and privation with the rest of them. Cas- 
par settled down to business in Athens after the 
war and when he died left a good estate. 

Anions: the celebrities Athens once claimed a 
rope-walker. A. H. Jennings, whose rope name 
v/as Professor Halwick, landed here on one of 
his tours and liked the place so well that he 
stayed. I should rather say that he liked Miss 
Ella Buesse so much that he married her and she 
stayed. Halwick was a popular fellow and a 
good performer on the tight rope. He once 
stretched his rope across Broad street below the 
National Bank and rolled a wheelbarrow across 
on it. In the wheelbarrow was a small cooking- 
stove with a fire in it, and Halwick cooked bat- 
ter cakes while the crowd waited. At another 
time he rolled another man across in the wheel- 
barrow. The man never had any sense after- 
wards. But Halwick's star performance was 
vv-alking a rope across the Grand Chasm at Tal- 
lulah Falls for a purse of $500. He gave exhi- 
bitions in different towns in the state and in one 
of them fell from the rope and broke his leg. 
That was the end of the rope-walker, but not of 
Halwick, who lived here some years afterwards, 
was elected to an office of some kind — possibly 
Coroner — and eventually moved to Brunswick, 
where he now lives. 



388 
CHAPTER IvII. 

The old street railroad which has been referred 
to, was never designed to carry passengers, but 
in 1885 a Mr. Snodgrass, from Texas, came to 
Athens and proposed to build and equip a road for 
passenger service. Snodgrass made a business 
0/ building street railroads in towns where there 
were none. His plan was to get subscriptions 
to the stock from the citizens, as much as he 
could, then put a mortgage on the road, issue 
bonds as much as it would stand, and get ci"'- 
zens to buy the bonds as much as they would, 
both as a preferred security and to help a pub- 
lic enterprise. For his profits he took all the 
cash over and above what the road cost. 

Snodgrass got all the encouragement he wan- 
ted in Athens. The Council gave him an ample 
franchise and his bonds were all taken. His 
track, laid on top of the grounnd, was of the 
lightest iron that is made. He had three cars, 
'"Lucy Cobb," "Pocahontas" and "No. 2." One of 
them is in Mr. Flanigen's yard now, used for a 
children's playhouse. The motive power was 
Texas mules of the most diminutive variety. 

These little mules were shipped in car load 
lots and were as wild as rabbits and much more 
active. They had to be broken in, and during 
this process the schedule was smashed into frag- 
ments and the passenger never knew where to 



389 



find the mule. If they had rope enough they were 
as hkely to be behind the car as in front, or for 
that matter, inside. Those poor little mules had 
a hard time of it. In wet weather they wore 
holes between the crossties knee deep, and in 
front of Dr. Hunnicutt's, which was then a 
quagmire in winter, they learned to walk the 
track. The active superintendent of the road 
was a negro named Sam, who was driver and 
factotum, although J. H. Dorsey held the office. 

When Snodgrass had realized his profit he went 
to other fields and our little road went into re- 
ceiver's hands to be wound up. The assets and 
franchise were sold to E. G. Harris, who was 
assisted by J. T. Voss, and backed by Dr. Hunni- 
cutt. This company converted the road into an 
electric line. 

The Athens Park and Improvement Company, 
which had bought a large tract of land as far 
out as the Seaboard road, made a contract with 
the street railway people, by which the Boule- 
vard was opened from Barber street and the rail- 
way projected through it. 

But both companies had bitten off more than 
they could easily masticate, and the inevitable 
Receiver again stepped in and took charge of each 
of them. There was a lot of money lost in these 
two enterprises ; not less than a hundred thousand 
dollars first and last. 

The street railroad was finally bought by W. 



390 

S. Holman, A. P. Bearing, W. T. Bryan and J. 
Y. Carithers. These gentlemen immediately 
bought and developed the water power at Mitch- 
ell's bridge and abandoned the expensive steam 
plant which had furnished the power. 

The Athens Electric Railway is now one of 
the finest properties in the South, It not only 
operates the cars, but lights the city streets and 
furnishes current for lighting houses" and for 
motors throughout the city. The manager, Mr. 
C. D. Flanigen, furnishes a service which is 
not surpassed in any other city. 

When the war began there were three cotton 
mills in and about Athens of limited capacity, 
and by no means in first-class condition. The 
Georgia Factory, the oldest of them, at its last 
gasp had been bought by John White, who was 
operating it. The demand for cloth and yarn 
immediately gave a stimulus to it which made 
much money for the owner. Any machinery 
which would twist thread was worth its weight 
in Confederate money, and as for looms — their 
value was beyond computation. When the wa-: 
closed Mr. White was a rich man. He judicious- 
ly invested his money, improved his property, 
and at his death left a large estate to his chil- 
dren. 

Princeton Factory went from bad to worse. 
It never made any money since Mr. Williams 



391 



owned it. It was reorganized and renovated, and 
finally sold under the hammer. 

Athens Factory made money hand over fist. 
For thirty years it paid an average of 13 per cent 
dividends and its stock sold as high as 165. 
When it became saddled with a debt of $7o,ooo, 
for money borrowed to develop Barnett Shoals, 
it began to stagger under the load, and when 
the Shoals property was sold and nothing paid 
on this debt, the end was not far to see. By 
this unfortunate complication and the failure of 
the Athens Manufacturing Company, not less 
than $200,000 was lost to its creditors and stock- 
holders. Mr. Bloomfield, its president, had large 
views for the Athens Factory. He bought tho 
old Confederate armory, which he converted in- 
to a cotton mill, the lower mill being reserved 
for spinning yarns. In the purchase of Barnett's 
Shoals with a 5500 horse-power fall, he planned 
to erect a great electric plant to furnish current 
to the city for lighting and manufacturing. His 
financiering was at fault, his plans fell through, 
and another company is now doing just what he 
contemplated twenty years ago. 

Five men in Athens in later years have been 
prominent in public spirit, John W. Nicholson, 
R. L. Bloomfield, J. A. Hunnicutt. R. K. Reaves 
and J. H. Rucker. No enterprise was ever inaug- 
urated to promote the interests of the citv which 
did not receive their support and financial aid. 



392 



It there was a sale of real estate they were there 
tc bid and help on the sale. If there was a sub- 
scription to be taken up their names were always 
counted on. If a fellow citizen needed aid and 
deserved it, their credit and their money was ex- 
tended to him. It so happened that reverses in 
business came to each of them and their losses 
though not so keenly felt, was also a blow to the 
community. 

As a man passes out from the sphere of busi- 
ness he is no longer regarded as a factor in the 
activities of life, but the local historian cannot 
permit these men to be forgotten for what they 
have done for Athens. 

Two citizens of Athens, always warm personal 
friends, enjoyed the deserved reputation of being 
her best financiers. These were Ferdinand 
Phinizy and Young L. G. Harris. 

Mr. Phinizy had the inborn faculty of seeing 
the end of a business proposition. His judge- 
ment was almost unerring. Given the facts and 
the outlook, his solution was algebraic in its 
certainty. In the course of a long business ca- 
reer he dealt with large schemes and his advice 
was often sought by others. He accumulated 
a large estate, appraised at his death at thirteen 
hundred thousand dollars, with not a taint upon 
a penny of it. With all his gathering he was a 
liberal man, giving to the support of churches, 
subscribing to public enterprises, charitable to 



393 



the poor. Mr. Phinizy liked to have a hand in 
things. Though not a member of the church until 
a short time before his death, he interested him- 
self in the business of the Methodist church, in 
the appointment of preachers, and strenuously 
opposed the purchase of an organ. He controlled 
the Southern Mutual Insurance Company, of 
which he was a director, and the Northeastern 
Railroad as long as he was connected with it. 
But while Mr. Phinizy was a dominating man he 
was not a domineering man. He was affable and 
genial, an agreeable companion and a valuable 
citizen. 

Judge Harris — he had been a lawyer and was 
once a judge of the Inferior Court — married a 
fortune and added to it. He had no children 
and he and his wife, a most excellent woman, 
lived rather secluded lives. Both were devoted 
Methodists. If Judge Harris loved anything be- 
sides his wife it was the Methodist Church. He 
sustained it in life and it was his legatee after 
death. He gave much to chanty and his hand 
v/as ever open to the needy. And yet Judge 
Harris didn't like to be troubled or to take trouble. 
It was easier for him to contribute money and 
let somebody else take the trouble. He was an 
impatient man and showed it quickly. Though 
he had a large family connection, and nieces 
and nephews, he seemed to care little for them. 
He was extremely polite, and when on the street 



394 



raised his hat to everyone whom he met, some- 
times even forgetting to draw the color Hne. 
The Judge was a man of fine business ju<]g- 
ment, controlled by conservatism, and managed 
the interests of the Southern Mutual Insurance 
Company, of which he was president, with pru- 
dence and success. It is problematical whether 
he would have had as many friends if he had 
not had so much money. 

Dr. John S. Linton was one of the builders of 
Athens. He graduated in medicine but soon 
abandoned the practice for the more active affairs' 
of life. He built the first paper mill in Georgia, 
and first organized and operated the Athens 
Foundry. He was one of the organizers of the 
State Fair and of the Clarke County Fair. He 
enlarged and managed the Athens Factory, took 
contracts to build railroads, and at the same 
time owned large plantations and several hun- 
dred negroes. His negroes, worth $100,000, 
were freed by the war. Wilson's Raiders de- 
stroyed $20,000 worth of his cotton. After the 
war he endorsed the paper of a friend who failed, 
and lands and property went to pay $60,000 to 
his creditors. But though practically ruined, Dr. 
Linton never lost his nerve nor could one have 
known from his manner that he had lost a dol- 
lar. 

Dr. Linton was impatient and often irritable, 



395 



but a more generous man never lived. He was 
after the war an enthusiastic farmer and while 
he sold cotton and corn and cattle, when it came 
to butter or fruit or turkeys he would give them 
to his friends, but would never sell them. He 
looked upon that as a small business. 

Just after the surrender a negro girl was im- 
pertinent to Mrs. Linton, and the doctor whipped 
her for it. Hieing to the Freedman's Bureau 
the girl lodged her complaint and Dr. Linton 
was summoned before Major Knox. Knox sta- 
ted the case and asked the offender if he had 
anything to say. "Yes. She was impertinent and 
I whipped her." "Well," said Knox, "I'll have 
to fine you twenty dollars." Pulling out the 
money Dr. Linton threw it to the "Bureau" and 
said, "She is my nigger and I'll whip her when 
I please." Dr. Linton lived to a good old age — 
past eighty-three in fact — but when he was • 
eighty years old he would walk all over his farm 
and into town and back. His charities were 
without number and his generosity limited only 
by his means. Athens owes more to no man than 
tc John S. Linton. 

CHAPTER LIII. 

The agitation for public schools first began in 
1879. Naturally it gave rise to much discus- 
sion and arguments pro and con. The conserva- 



396 

tives opposed it. They had never been to a pub- 
He school, they had been well educated without it, 
and the private school was good enough for them 
and their children. Besides public schools meant 
an increase in taxes, and moreover the public 
school was a Massachusetts invention and we 
were becoming Yankeeized fast enough anyhow. 
The progressive element favored it. What the 
country needed was education, systematic educa- 
tion ; it was for the public good and the public 
should pay for it. Look at Germany, how she 
walloped France. Germany had public schools, 
PVance didn't. All growing cities had public 
schools. Athens was a growing city, therefore, 
Q E. D. A public meeting was called in June 
at which the subject was thrashed out. A com- 
mittee had been appointed to bring in a report, 
of which Howell Cobb, Esq., was chairman. 
His report was a marvelous composition. It 
favored both schools and no schools. It empha- 
sized unimportant details and lightly touched up- 
on the question at issue. The report was satis- 
factory to both sides and was adopted, and as 
the hour was late the meeting adjourned to an- 
other day — and nothing came of it. The time 
was not ripe for public schools and Judge Cobb 
knew it. 

Subsequently however, in 1885 the people by a 
majority of 603 voted an issue of bonds for 
school buildings, and an act of the legislature 



397 



authorized the pubHc school system of Athens. 

The City Council first located one of the build- 
ings on the old cemetery where the negroes 
were buried, and excavations for the foundations 
were begun. The grounnd was honeycombed 
with old graves which had to be dug down 
to the hard clay, and a small wagon load of bones 
v.xre disinterred. This so offended the senti- 
ment of the people that the site was abandoned, 
the graves filled in and the lot on Washington 
street was purchased. 

Prof. E. C. Branson was the first superintend- 
ent of schools, and to his remarkable talent 
Athens owes the thorough organization of her 
system, which is not surpassed by any in the 
State. 

For many years back the Athens bar stood 
high in the estimation of the State. Recalling its 
earlier members, there were Augustin S. Clay- 
ton, Edward Harden, Charles and William 
Dougherty, William L. Mitchell, Junius Hillyer, 
William Hope Hull, Howell Cobb, Joseph H. 
Lumpkin, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Cincinnatus Pee- 
ples, BenjaminH. Hill and Samuel P. Thurmond. 
These men were a tower of strength to any cause 
they might advocate. 

Of these Samuel P. Thurmond was most 
marked by rugged strength. He was self edu- 
cated and of the people. He was honest and 
fearless, tenacious and resourceful. Bv his in- 



398 

dustry he built up a good practice and accumul- 
ated a fair fortune. Col. Thurmond under a 
rough exterior, had a kind heart and loved mercy. 
The lady whom he married was possessed of 
some property which was held by trustees, and 
which they had invested in good faith in securities 
which ultimately proved almost valueless. In his 
settlement with these trustees Col. Thurmond 
waived his right to demand the original value of 
his wife's estate and accepted the depreciated 
securities at face value, giving a receipt in full. 
Not many men would have done this. , 

In only one instance did his acumen fail him. 
When Confederate bonds had a factitious value 
in the market of ten dollars a thousand, the Colo 
nel refused that offer for about 50.000 which he 
had packed away somewhere. He gave as his 
reason that the Yankees were making so much 
money, after awhile they would buy all the Con- 
federate bonds they could get and then pass a law 
making them worth par. 

Of the younger members of the Athens bar 
none had the promise of a brighter future than 
George Dudley Thomas. Gifted with a fine in- 
tellect, social position, influential friends and a 
spotless character, he had all the elements of suc- 
cess as a lawyer. George Thomas was truthful 
and inspired confidence. He was pure in thought 
and speech ; a man whom all esteemed. He was 
never robust and was a young man when he died, 



399 



and yet he was counsel for the largest corpora- 
tions which did business in Athens. The death 
of such a man is always a public loss. 

It has been said that Athens is a delightful 
place to live and spend money, but a poor place 
to make it, and that a young man has no opportu- 
nities in Athens to become successful in business. 
I shall not debate the question but simply tender 
in evidence a few cases and let the reader decide, 
and I shall not go back to the war period be- 
cause the conditions since are so different from 
what they were before. 

R. K. Reaves came home after the surrender 
with less than fifty dollars and began trading. 
In twenty-five years he was worth $150,000, all 
made here. 

After the war John Talmadge opened a little 
store with a wheelbarrow full of goods. Soon 
after his brother, Clovis joined him aiid both 
married. When the latter died they were worth 
$50,000. Now Talmadge Bros. Co. is one of the 
largest firms in Northeast Georgia. 

In 1873 Prince Hodgson was in the paper col- 
lar business in Troy, N. Y. The panic knocked 
him into smithereens and he came home. As- 
bury was a Southern Express messenger ; Joe 
was M. G. and J. Cohen's bookkeeper. The 
brothers formed a partnership, built up a large 
retail grocery store, a prosperous brokerage 
agency and a fertilizer manufactory doing an im- 



400 

mense annual business, which they own, besides 
valuable interests in other enterprises in the city. 

In 1870 Mendel Morris had a small stock of 
dry goods in the little corner store by Storey's 
warehouse, perhaps worth three hundred dollars. 
Now he owns twenty dwelling houses, two stores 
and a large stock of goods and has money in the 
bank. 

In 1880 Hiram Crawford and Jos. N. Webb 
quit clerking and put about $2,000 capital into 
groceries. Now the firm sells goods all over 
Georgia. 

In 1876 Simon and Moses G. Michael began 
business in Bishop's old corner with the shelves 
about half full of goods. Soon the new three- 
story building was put up to accommodate their 
business. After five years, needing more room, 
they bought the lot and built their present store. 
and then had to rent another building. Now 
besides the large business they conduct, they own 
valuable real estate, and each of them has built 
an elegant home in the city. 

Thomas Bailey worked for day wages in the 
Athens Founndry as boy and man, became a 
Master Machinist, saved his money and invested 
it wisely. He now owns valuable real estate in 
and around Athens, is the President and chief 
owner of the Foundry where he worked as a boy, 
and is respected for his sound judgment and 
esteemed for his solid worth. 



401 



All these men — and there are others besides — 
succeeded by legitimate business methods and 
there was no luck about it. 

Young men, don't go west to Atlanta. Stay 
right here and mind your business. Other men 
have made fortunes doing it. 

CHAPTR LIV. ; 

The Chancellor of the University is always 
one of the first citizens of the State and this 
was preeminently true of Dr. Lipscomb, the 
lirst of the Chancellors. 

Andrew Adgate Lipscomb was a native of 
Virginia. His boyhood was spent in the his- 
toric region of Manassas, and every foot of that 
fiercely-contested ground was familiar and its 
features distinct in his recollection. Entering the 
ministry of the Protestant Methodist Church, 
his feeble health soon demanded his retirement, 
and he located in Alabama, building up a pros- 
perous female school at Montgomery. 

Dr. Lipscomb was a scholar of great erudi- 
tion and a lecturer of great power. As a ser- 
monizer, he was prone to get beyond the depth 
of his audience, but at times, both in the pul- 
pit and on the rostrum, he rose to flights of elo- 
quence rarely equalled in a land of orators. 
He was essentially a benevolent man, large- 
hearted and loving. It was his fault, if fault 



402 

it could be called, to think too well of everyone. 
He never recognized the "old Adam," nor ad- 
mitted the existence of "pure cussedness" in 
any boy. Henry W. Grady, when a college 
student, in a college paper, admirably carica- 
tured the Chancellor in a mock account of a trial 
by the faculty of a student for a misdemeanor. 
When the other Professors had expressed their 
views, one plainly declaring that he believed 
'"Mr. M. was dwunk," Dr. Lipscomb said, "I 
apprehend that the unconscious cerebration in 
Mr. McL — 's case, reacting through the nerv- 
ous system, so excited the brain cells, that the 
impulse given to muscular action became irre- 
sistable." 

Though abhorring discipline in its strictest 
sense, Dr. Lipscomb, by personal appeals to 
the better nature of his boys — "My dear boys'" 
as he was wont to call them — and by earnest 
personal interviews, awakened in many a stud- 
ent aspirations to a nobler life. 

While Chancellor he inaugurated the Sabbath 
afternoon service for students. In these lect- 
ures he was at his best". Brief — never longer 
than a half-hour — pointed, and perfect gems 
of thought and delivery, they attracted large 
audiences from the city, taxing the utmost ca- 
pactity of the prayer-room. A master of elocu- 
tion, a thorough rhetorician and an enthusi- 
ast in teaching, the careers of his pupils, many 



403 



of them prominent men in this and other 
States, is the measure of Dr. Lipscomb's suc- 
cess. 

When he retired from the University, he did 
so seeking- rehef from the responsibihties of his 
office. Always a sufferer, his nerves were al 
ways overstrung, and while apparently well, and 
seemingly robust, if interested in his subject, 
he would be greatly prostrated by the reaction. 

Dr. Lipscomb served the LTniversity well in 
the most trying times of its history and left it 
the established pride of the State. For a few 
years after his resignation, he served as a lect- 
urer at Vanderbilt University, then returned to 
spend the remainder of his threescore and ten 
years at his home in Athens. After the death 
of Chancellor Mell, Dr. Lipscomb filled tem- 
porarily the chair of moral philosophy. Chan- 
cellor Lipscomb was succeeded by Dr. Tucker. 

Henry Holcombe Tucker was born in Geor- 
gia. His widowed mother marrying a second 
time, removed to Philadelphia in his childhood, 
and there he lived until his nineteenth year. He 
graduated at Columbian College, in Washing- 
ton City. For a few years he engaged in mer- 
cantile business in Charleston, then studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in Forsyth, Ga., 
practicing until 1848. The knowledge of the 
])ractical business of life which he acquired dur- 



404 

ing that decade was of great advantage to hii.i 
in after life. 

The death of his wife, within a year after 
lier marriage, brought the conviction to Dr. 
Tucker's mind that he ought to preach the gos- 
pel. He accordingly studied for the ministry 
under the venerable Dr. Dagg at ]Mercer ; but 
urgent invitations to engage in teaching diver- 
ted him from the active ministr}-. 

During the war, Dr. Tucker was active in 
every movement to alleviate the sufferings of 
the people. He was the founder of the Georgia 
Relief and Hospital Association, which carried 
aid and comfort to thousands of sick and 
wounded soldiers, and he freely spent his time 
and monev in helping the destitute. 

To one trait of character Dr. Tucker doubt- 
less owed much of the failure of his adminis 
tration as Chancellor at Athens. That was his 
utter lack of f>olicy. He was a thoroughly hon- 
est man. and hated shams of every description. 
He called a spade a spade, and went straight at 
everything with a directness that fairly shocked 
some people. His treatment of the students 
w^as fair and open. He never locked his room 
door nor his desk. Yet during his absence 
nothing was ever disturbed. On one occasion 
a number of Baptist ministers, passing through 
Athens on their way to a state convention, had 
to lie over a night. One of the resident Bap- 



405 



tists, an influential man, suggested that they be 
entertained at the homes of the people, and 
asked Dr. Tucker how many he would take. 
"None, sir," said he. "I don't want them 
bringing dirt into my house. Put as many as 
vou think I ought to take at the hotel and I 
will pay the bill." 

He said once that he didn't like the Baptist^; 
anyhow, and the Baptists didn't like him ; but 
he never wavered in upholding the doctrines of 
his church. He made many enemies among 
that denomination while he was president oi 
Mercer, and the falling off in the students here 
while he was Chancellor was chiefly in that class 
of patronage. 

Dr. Tucker once said, after his resignation : 
' The trustees thought I couldn't run the college, 
but they adopted all my recommendations." 
This was quite true, for they abolished the Uni- 
versity system, returning to the curricula with 
the various courses each leading to its degree , 
they urged that the standard of scholarship be 
raised ; they made the Chancellor alone respon- 
sible for the discipline of the college, and finally, 
they made tuition free. 

Upon Dr. Tucker's retirement Dr. P. H. Alell 
was elected Chancellor. 

Patrick Hues Mell was born in Libert\- coun- 
ty , Georgia. At the age of seventeen, he taught 
a country school, saving enough to take him tn 



406 



Amherst College, Mass., where he graduated, 
paying his expenses there by teachmg during- 
vacation. After leaving college, he taught at 
Springfield and at Hartford, but declined flat- 
tering offers there to return to his native State. 

Upon the recommendation of Governor 
Troup, he was elected professor of ancient lan- 
guages in Mercer College in 1842, and twelve 
years later, was called to the same chair in the 
University of Georgia. Here he spent the re- 
mainder of his days. 

As a preacher of the gospel, Dr. Mell ranked 
liigh. He made no pretense of oratory, nor even 
reached the point of eloquence, but the exhaus- 
tive analysis of his subject and the close rea- 
soning of his argument, held his hearer's strict 
attention and left them with the sense that there 
was nothing more to be said. He had the un- 
bounded confidence of his own denomination and 
held the ofifice of Aloderator of the Southern 
Baptist Convention for many years, being annu- 
ally re-elected until the last year of his life. 

At one session of that body, held in Louis- 
ville, Ky., a brother who was speaking referred 
to the late Civil War as the "rebellion." Dr. 
Mell immediately rapped sharply with his gavel 
and said : "That word is out of order on this 
floor." Nor did he yield one iota of his devo- 
tion to the South or the justice of the Confeder- 
ate cause. 



407 



In 1861, he raised a company of volunteers, 
called for him the Mell Rifles, but before they 
enlisted, the death of Airs. Mell, leaving a fam- 
ily of small children, made it imperative that he 
should remain at home. Later in the war, he 
commanded a regiment of "six months" troops 
at Rome and Savannah. 

Personally, Dr. Mell was austere in manner, 
reserved and distant, but courteous to all, even 
to punctiliousness, and to his friends, he verged 
upon cordiality. As a professor, he was a hard 
man to recite to. His custom on the assembling 
of the class was to say: "Mr. Blank, will you 
begin the lesson?'' If Mr. Blank happened to 
be an average student, upon such an invitation 
he would utterly fail to suggest an idea ; but if 
by chance he was able to respond with any suc- 
cess, the professor would, after a little, say : 
'That will do, sir; Mr. X., will you please take 
it up there?" No change of expression ever in- 
dicated to either whether he had failed or re- 
cited correctly. 

The writer came in one Saturday morning to 
a class in Latin under Dr. Alell, after an all 
night 'possum hunt, barely getting into the chap- 
el at the last tap of the prayer-bell. As might 
have been expected, so soon as he composed him- 
self on the recitation bench, he fell asleep. The 
professor promptly called on him to read a pas- 
sage in Cicero and appreciating the situation, let 



408 



him sleep through the hour — but gave him zero. 

A brief iUness following upon prostration 
brought Chancellor Mell to his bed. from which 
he never rose. On Januar\- 26, 1888, he breathed 
Ins last. 

While the writer has eschewed sketches of 
men still in life, yet it would be invidious to omit 
all mention of Chancellor William E. Boggs, 
whose administration fills so important a part 
of college history. Dr. Boggs' election was a 
compromise between the progressive and con- 
servative elements in the Board of Trustees. 
One had insisted upon an aggressive Chancellor, 
the other demanded that the traditional minister 
fill the office. Dr. Boggs was both. Without 
comparison with any other period of the Uni- 
versity history, for institutions like this must 
either grow or stagnate. Dr. Boggs must be 
credited with raising the standard of scholarship, 
with securing appropriations for Science Hall 
and Denmark Hall, with inaugurating the sys- 
tem of cheap board for the students. Upon this 
the reputation of Chancellor Boggs can safely 
rest. 

In the death of Chancellor Hill the University 
sustained a great loss. W^alter B. Hill was the 
first alumnus and the first layman saving Pres- 
ident Meigs, to guide the destinies of the Uni- 
versity. He was a skilled diplomat and a poli- 
tician in the best sense of the term. He soon 



409 



succeeded in allaxinq- the old antagonism to the 
University which had hindered its growth, and 
gained for it strong friends, able and desirous to 
build it up. He schemed for it and at his un- 
timely death left for future development great 
plans and great promises for its extension. 

CHAPTER hV. 

As the city advanced pari passu with the Uni 
versity the faithful chronicler cannot omit men- 
tion of some of the Faculty who made an im- 
press on the social life of the community. 

The opening session of Chancellor Mell's ad- 
ministration was marked by a loss as serious as 
anv the University had ever sustained — the un- 
timely death of Professor Waddell. 

William Henry Waddell inherited all the abil- 
ity as a teacher which his father and grand- 
father had acquired through years of experience. 
A close student and a finished scholar, Professor 
Waddell added to these gifts the power to in- 
terest and enthuse, which never failed to make 
its impress upon his pupils. Cordial in manner, 
strict without severity, honest and just, the stud- 
ent felt safe in his hands and it is doubtful if he 
ever made an enemy among all who came under 
bis instruction. 

Professor Waddell was tall and moved rapidlv 
and unsfracefullv. When he walked he strode 



410 



swinging his arms at length, and his entree into 
church always excited a smile. He was a deeply 
religious man, a ruling elder in the Presbyterian 
church. He had a habit while walking along 
the street of raising his hat as if in courtesy to 
some lady. Often no one being near, his friends 
were curious to know what it meant. In some 
v.'ay it was found out that it was an act of devo- 
tion while he offered a silent prayer. 

He died suddenly in September, 1878, at Mil- 
ford, Va., on his way home from Baltimore, the 
victim of a painful disorder. As one remarked 
at the time, he touched at many points. In the 
college, in the church, in the community, and in 
society, his loss was felt to be irreparable. 

Professor Charles Morris was a gentleman of 
the old school, a Virginian of Virginians, cour- 
teous and brave. Prior to the war, he was a 
professor at William and Mary and during the 
war served until the surrender as brigade-quar- 
termaster. 

Major Morris was a man of broad culture, 
filling at different times both the chairs of Greek 
and belles-lettres with ability, and as a writer, in 
purity of diction and elegance of expression, he 
hsA few equals. He had traveled abroad and 
mingled with men and rubbed against the world, 
and was free from the dogmatism which is so 
apt to clothe the lifelong teacher. Major Morris 
professed to be a typical "old fogy," and clung 



411 



tc the manners and traditions of the ante-bellum 
days with a tenacity which never relaxed. He 
was a declared foe to "science" so-called, and all 
its pretensions. He planted by the moon, and in- 
sisted that wheat would turn to "cheat" and to- 
bacco degenerate into mullein. Plain and unaf- 
fected in manner, but always a gentleman, sin- 
cere and tender-hearted, he was greatly beloved 
b> all the students and esteemed by all who knew 
him. 

Professor Morris was for many year? a suf- 
ferer from neuralgia and was very sensitive to 
cold. In April, 1893, after sitting throughout 
a contest for speaker's places, he went to his 
home feeling tired and sick. In a week, pneu- 
monia ensued, and after a brief illness, he passed 
away in the morning of May 3d. 

Professor Williams Rutherford, for thirty- 
three years the honored instructor in mathemat- 
ics of two generations of students, retired from 
active work in the University in 1888. The 
'i'rustees, in accepting his resignation, continued 
his salary for one year, requesting him to aid the 
Chancellor in whatever way might be agreeable 
to him and made him Emeritus Professor of 
mathematics. 

Professor Rutherford was an alumnus and the 
sell of an alumnus of the first graduating class 
of the University. Upright, faithful, honest and 
jr.st, he inspired confidence and respect in every 



412 

student who came under his instruction. Though 
thev very often sorely tried his patience, all loved 
"Old Foot," and all confessed that his simple 
faith and irreproachahle life, was a sermon that 
spoke louder to them than words. 

Professor Rutherford's influence was not con- 
fined to college circles. It extended to all who 
knew him. He took great interest in farming. 
He had an old family horse named Captain, and 
he also ran an unprofitable two horse farm. It 
was said that he bought two mules to make 
tlie feed for Captain and then bought the farm 
to support the mules. At the first of the war. 
without his knowledge, he was appointed Major 
and Quartermaster, but; it seemed imperative 
that he should remain in the College Faculty 
and he declined the appointment. Afterwards he 
enlisted as a private in the Lipscomb Volunteers. 

Mr. Rutherford was a hairy man at best, and 
when he permitted his hair and beard to grow 
in the army Oliver Prince called him the "Wild 
Man from Borneo," and said the only way to 
catch him was to bait the hook with a copy of 
Jesse Mercer's "Cluster." He was a man of 
great physical strength and had a grip of steel. 
He was kind hearted, simple in his tastes, of 
eniinent piety and one of the salt of the earth. 

It is not every college that can claim so cul- 
tured a scholar as Professor C. P. Willcox, and 
he w'as not only a scholar but an accomplished 



413 



iriusician. Dr. \\'illcox had enjoyed exceptional 
advantages. He lived for seven years in Berlin. 
Both French and German were as familiar to 
him as his native tongue. He played exquisitely 
on the flute and had occasionally played with 
the Royal Orchestra in Berlin. Short in statue, 
but with a massive head, his was a well known 
figure on the Campus for thirty years. He had 
high ideals and his whole life was spent upon a 
plane commensiu'ate with them. 

Professor Will cox's lectures were couched in 
the choicest language and had the added charm 
ot being delivered in a most musical voice, and 
these with his charming flute made a great ad- 
dition to the social life ofAthens. One evening 
he returned from walking a little tired and laid 
down to rest. lie was seized with angina pec- 
toris and when the family came in thev found 
him dead. 

A sad occurrence in 1881 threw a gloom over 
the college. Walter Rountree, while out walking 
one afternoon with his brother and two other 
companions, became engaged in a difficulty with 
two negroes, who, it seems, had borne him some 
ill-will. They met in front of the courthouse, 
and after some words, pistols were drawn and 
iji the melee which ensued, Walter Rountree was 
shot. He was taken to his boarding house 
where he died that night. Great excitement en- 
sued among the students and the negroes in the 



414 



city and a riot was with difficulty averted. A 
post-mortem was held, but the ball was not 
found. The pistols used were found to be of 
different calibres and the identity of the fatal shot 
was a necessary evidence in the prosecution of 
the negroes. Under an order of court, two sur- 
geons went over to the young man's home, ex- 
humed the body and continued the search for 
the ball until it was found. It proved to have 
been shot from the brother's pistol. The negroes 
v/ere tried for assault with intent to murder, 
tcund guilty and were sentenced by Judge Er- 
win to ten years in the penitentiary. 

CHAPTER LVI. 

Three citizens of Athens have been preemi- 
nent in the affections of the people, if the respect 
shown them at their funerals be taken as a crit- 
erion. These were Rev. Dr. C. W. Lane, Dr. 
John Gerdine and Rev. Ellison D. Stone. 

Dr. Lane ministered to the Presbyterian 
Church a quarter of a century, and not only to 
his own people but to all in distress or sorrow 
of any denomination. He was essentially a holy 
man, self-denying and consecrated. He was a 
great walker and thought nothing of stepping 
over to Bethaven Church seven miles away. He 
v.as such an inveterate traveller on foot that 
h:s people once gave him a horse. While on 



415 



one of his trips in the country he saw a poor 
woman trying to cultivate her crop with a year- 
Hng ox. The doctor left his horse with her to 
plow and walked home. Dr. Lane was an ac- 
complished botanist and his talks on plants- and 
flowers were extremely interesting. When he 
died, after many months of failing health, all 
classes, white and black. Gentile and Jew, united 
to show their reverence for this man of God. 

Dr. Gerdine came back to his native place in 
1875, and for nearly thirty years was a beloved 
physician of the city. A quiet, unassuming man 
of firm convictions and genial manner, his quick 
response to the call of pain, his gentleness in the 
sick room, his sympathy with the family, his un- 
remitting attention to the sick, bound the hearts 
of the people to him with cords of steel. Dr. 
Gerdine never spoke unkindly of any one nor 
was a harsh word ever heard to pass his lips. 
His death was due to exposure in visiting a pa- 
tient when he himself ought to have been in bed. 
There were no lines drawn in the the sorrow at 
his death. It was universal. 

The tribute paid to Ellison Stone in his death 
was an evidence of his worth in life. Mr. Stone 
had neither wealth nor social position, nor po- 
litical influence to make friends for himself. A 
printer all his life, working at his trade for his 
daily bread, a simple-hearted, plain man, he im- 
pressed everybody by the purity of his life and 



416 

character so that the hearts of the whole commu- 
nity turned to him. He was the idol of the 
poorer classes, and some of them wouldn't think 
they were safely married if ^Ir. Stone did not 
niarry them. He was credited with marrying 
more couples than any other man in Georgia. 
At his .death the church could not hold the people 
who crowded to show their esteem for this good 
man. and literally hundreds stood about the out- 
side. , 

Except at long intervals politics in Athens has 
not been at a high temperature. When the ciues- 
tion of secession came to the front in i860 both 
the then opposing parties dropped out of sight 
and all united on the absorbing issue of the war. 

We may say then that the first bitterly fought 
election was when General Gordon was a candi- 
date for Governor against Rufus B. Bullock in 
1866. It was the white people of Georgia on 
one side asserting themselves against Yankee 
scalawags,, renegade whites, a very few respect- 
able old Union men and the freed negroes on the 
other. Federal soldiers held the polls. Old Con- 
federate soldiers, disfranchised, were not per- 
mitted to vote. Their niggers who Mr. Lincoln's 
ipse (li.vif had said were free, marched up in 
sciuads and voted with not the remotest idea 
what it meant. 

It is easy to conceive the indignation which 
possessed the white man at the polls. A riot 
M'as imminent — Federal bayonets did not keep it 



417 



down. It was the appeals of conservative, 
thoughtful men who advised them to abide their 
time which prevented bloodshed. There was 
some fighting, a few insolent negroes knocked 
down, and the scalawags cursed and dared to 
resent the insult which they did not feel, but the 
election passed off wathout any fatalities. Bul- 
lock was counted in and a Radical government 
saddled upon the State. 

The negro voter had become a factor to be 
reckoned with in elections. In party contests he 
went solidly Republican, but in town and count v- 
elections the leaders began to see that there was 
money in voting and candidates for office w^ere 
not slow to learn that the negro held the balance 
ot power. The mass of negroes got nothing, of 
course, but those who had 'fluence sold it to the 
highest bidders. Some of them netted from $300 
to $500 at an election. 

The next warm campaign we experienced 
was Allen D. Candler against Emorv Speer 
for Congress. Emory Speer had made a 
brilliant campaign on strict Democratic 
lines against Joel Abbott lUllups and had de- 
feated him. He was serving a term in Congress 
and was a candidate for reelection. But he had 
kicked out of the traces and refused to submit to 
a nomination by convention. In other words he 
proposed to run as an Independent. That 
brought the wrath of the organized Democracv 



418 

down upon his head, opened a wide opportiinit\^ 
for the negro poHtician and participated the hot- 
test fight we had had for many years. 

Mr. Speer had many warm friends here at 
home and a strong support in the mountains. 
There, by his attractive manner and eloquent 
speeches he had fairly hypnotized the mountain- 
eer and shoals of baby boys were named for him. 
The negroes of course voted for the Indepenent 
candidate, but when the returns were received 
the night of the election his defeat was conclu- 
sively shown. 

Mr. Speer left for Washington the next morn- 
ing. When he returned to Georgia again it was 
as U. S. District Attorney, and in less than a 
year he was appointed Federal Judge. 

Since that time no candidate has butted 
against the organized Democracy in this county 
and politics have become as tame as a Sundav 
School tea. 

CHAPTER LVII. 

A great jubilation was held in Athens over 
Cleveland's election in 1884. Preparations 

were made for a great demonstration. Cannon 
were sent up from Augusta, wagon loads of fat 
lightwood were brought in, the whole stock of 
candles in the store were bought up. Commit- 
tees and Marshals and aides were detailed, and 
on the appointed night the procession formed on 



419 



Broad Street. There was a great crowd from 
the country, and men and boys and cohege stud- 
erits fell into line, each with a lighted torch. 
Transparencies with game cocks in every post- 
ure of victory, with mottoes and caricatures, 
were scattered along the line. Two bands of 
music uttered ear-splitting sounds. Cannon dou- 
ble charged boomed continually, breaking win- 
dow glass regardless of cost — to the owner. 
Marshals on horseback dashed here and there 
like peas on a hot shovel. 

The line of march was by the principal streets 
to the Lucy Cobb Institute. All the houses 
along the route were illuminated. In the Lucy 
Cobb every wondow was lighted and the belfry 
of the chapel was brilliantly illuminated. Com- 
ing back to the courthouse, where a speaker's 
stand had been erected. Scab Reese, Pat Walsh, 
II. H. Carlton and W. B. Burnett made addresses 
and it was late in the night when the paraders 
reached home full of enthusiasm and other 
things, and covered with glory and pitch. 

In speaking of the political contests through 
which we have passed in Athens I might have in- 
cluded the elections on prohibition and the no- 
fence law. But these can hardly be classed as 
political. 

The prohibition question brought a determined 
fight in 1885. Before that barrooms held sway 
all over our city. The disorder of the streets 



420 

was disgraceful. Then no lady dreamed of 
walking on Broad street on Saturday afternoons. 
-Vround the National Bank corner it was Bed- 
Irm broke loose. Men hilariously drunk, maud- 
lin drunk, stupid drunk and dead drunk, filled 
the air w'ith yells and oaths and the "salt house" 
was full of offenders against the peace. On elec- 
tion days and circus days the police force was 
doubled and trebled, and yet disorder reigned 
supreme. 

But that does not tell of the debauchery of 
}oung boys, the ruin of older men, the homicides 
and the wrecked homes w^hich were the natural 
fiuit of the barrooms. 

A sentiment arose, was fostered and grew 
that the barrooms must go. A heated campaign 
erisued. The liquor men, as usual, spent money 
freely, and bought the ward heelers and negro 
leaders. Honest men who did not drink were 
made to believe that the sale of liquor was an 
inspiration to business. A pitiful sight at the 
polls was a poor creature once a prosperous man, 
but wrecked in health and property by drink, 
brought in a buggy to vote for barrooms by the 
very bar-keeper with whom lie had exchanged 
liis property for whiskey. 

When the vote was counted prohibition car- 
ried the day in Clarke County by a majority of 

571- 

The bar-rooms were closed. Under the law 



421 



only a druggist could sell liquors and then only 
on a physician's prescription. Unheard of ail- 
ments attacked our citizens, and some physi- 
cians rose to a large practice. One physician 
opened a drug store with about $50 worth of 
drugs and $500 worth of liquors. He adopted the 
pyrohydropathic treatment with his patients, 
charging moderate fees for diagnoses and put 
ting up the prescription in a flat bottle. 

Blind tigers soon crept in and made their 
lairs in the most unsuspected places. In the 
course of a few years they could be easily traced 
b}- anyone wanting a drink, but not by any offi- 
cers of the law. They became notorious and con- 
victions were rarely possible. In the meantime a 
self-respecting citizen who wanted a bottle of 
brandy or whiskey to keep for family use — "jug- 
wumps," Larry Gantt happily dubbed them — 
would not patronize the blind tigers, couldn't ask 
for a physican's prescription and couldn't buy 
in Clarke County without one. His only re- 
course was to purchase elsewhere and have ir 
stnt by express. 

These conditions became exasperating and after 
seven years' trial of prohibition a strong party 
arose determined to vote bar-rooms back again. 

The party called themselves the "Law and 
Order Society," and some of our best citizens 
were enrolled in its membership. Hon. Pope 
Barrow was its chairman and he set forth that 



422 



the movement was a protest against the ineffec- 
tiveness of the existing law to prohibit and the 
multiplication of blind tigers with but little abate- 
ment of drunkenness in the city. The outcome 
of this agitation was the dispensary, fathered 
by Andrew J. Cobb, a leader on the prohibition 
side. 

The dispensary was a compromise, without 
which bar-rooms would undoubtedly have been 
voted back. As it was, the dispensary plan was 
adopted by only ii majority in the county. As 
an intelligent punster said, a little 'leven leaven- 
eth the whole lump, and after it was in operation 
the dispensary gave universal satisfaction. 

CHAPTER LVIII. 

A notable occasion was the visit of the daugh- 
ters of Jefferson Davis, Mrs. Hayes and Miss 
Winnie Davis, in November, 1887, during the 
Fair. Mr. Davis had intended to come with 
them, but his health prevented. Every attention 
was shown these ladies, a luncheon was given 
them by Mrs. John W. Nevitt, a brilliant recep- 
tion by Mr. J. H. Rucker and his mother and a 
big german by the Athenaeum Club. Miss Win- 
nie was introduced to not less than five hundred 
strangers during that visit and she did not fail 
to call every one by name whom she afterwards 
met. She was a charming woman and all were 



423 



proud to claim the Daughter of the Confederacy 
as our guest. 

For years after the reopening of college the 
greatest favorites among the boys, next to the 
girls, were Spot and Buckskin, and many are the 
dollars that have been paid and more that were 
charged, for the hire of these two horses 
and a buggy. Spot was a small chestnut sorrel 
with a white spot over the hip, belonging to 
Gann & Reaves. He was fast enough for driving 
and he seemed to know when his lessee had the 
right girl with him, for he never needed the 
whip. Buckskin's day was subsequent to Spot's, 
but he was quite as great a favorite. Nobody 
knows how much these two roadsters had to do 
with college courtships for twenty years. 

The year 1835 was the cold year, when the 
mercury went to 10 degrees below zero. 1830 
was the dry year, when the wells and streams 
dried up and stock had to be driven miles to 
water, and water for domestic purposes had to 
be hauled a long distance. 1887 was the wet 
year. In August of that year, in one rain, 10.03 
inches of water fell. Crops were overflowed and 
destroyed. Bottom corn stood for days in wate:" 
until it turned yellow. Hundreds of bridge.^ 
were swept down stream. Railroad culverts 
burst open and embankments were washed 
away. Buildings were flooded and the occupants 
driven to the upper floors. Travelers from At- 



424 



laiita southbound had to come over the Seaboard 
to Athens to get to Augusta or Macon. There 
was not a roof that did not leak and not a cellar 
but was full of water. And yet in less than 
thirty days people were complaining of dust 

Two citizens of Athens who came into promi- 
nence after the war were Henry H. Carlton and 
lope Barrow. Both* went away as lieutenants 
in Troup Artillery, and both became captains, 
the one of his own company, the other on the 
staff of General Howell Cobb. Captain Carlton 
was the first white representative to redeem 
Clarke County from the reconstruction acts. He 
served in the House and Senate, was a Member 
C'f Congress, and a Major in the war with Spain. 
He was warm-hearted and hot tempered. He 
made both friends and enemies, but he held his 
friends while he lost his enemies. Captain Carl- 
ton got every office he ever asked of his people 
at the polls excepting that of Mayor. He was 
a gallant and intrepid soldier and liked to be 
ii: the thickest of every fight, whether politicd 
or otherwise. 

Pope Barrow was a loveable man, genial, kind 
and attractive. He was universally popular be- 
cause he was universally friendly. It gave him 
pleasure to do anyone a service and his time and 
talents were entirely at the service of his friends. 
Captain Barrow was a prominent lawyer at the 
Athens bar, a member of the Constitutional Con- 



425 



vention, United States Senator and at his death 
was Judge of the Superior Court in Savannah, 
to which place he had removed. He was stricken 
with apoplexy while on the bench and died in 
a short while afterwards. 

A master of English was Dr. Eustace VV. 
Speer. Dr. Speer first came to Athens as pas- 
tor of the Methodist church in 1850 and again 
in 1859 and again in 1871. During these years 
he made many friends in Athens, whose admir- 
ation for him continued through life. In 1874 
he was elected Professor of Belles Lettres in the 
University, from which time he made Athens 
his permanent home. Dr. Speer was a most popu- 
lar preacher. His sermons were simple and help- 
ful, never long, expressed in choicest language, 
chaste in thought and diction. He spake ore ro- 
tuiido, his fine face full of expression, lighting 
with interest in his subject. He went in and out 
among us through his closing years, giving every- 
one a cordial greeting on the streets, finding 
pleasure at home in quaint old authors and the 
masters of English thought. 

Soon after John H. Newton established him- 
self in Athens, his nephew, Frederick W. Lucas, 
came to clerk for him. In time they were part- 
ners in business on Granite row, under the name 
of Newton & Lucas. 

Mr. Lucas before the war was the largest dry 
goods merchant in the town. He had the best 



426 

people for his customers, collected his bills once 
a year — when he collected them at all — was a 
generous, fair and honorable man. x\fter the 
war the methods in which he had been trained 
were not suited to the times. Long credits and 
no security broke him. He paid all his debts 
and started clerking again, owing no man any- 
thing. It was then that the sweetness of his 
character became known of all men. In his last , 
years he was Justice of the Peace. Though past 
four-score years, his mind was clear, his mem- 
ory good, his step alert, his manner courteous 
to all alike. In the midst of all his trials no on? 
ever heard him complain. His cheerfulness was 
a lesson to all. One morning while walking to 
his office he fell at the door of the very store so 
long known by his name. He was taken home, 
fully realizing that the end had come, and died 
in a few hours. So passed away a Christian 
gentleman. 

A firm who dealt in silverware, watches and 
jewelry was O. & A. K. Childs. Sometime be- 
fore the war Mr. Otis Childs returned to Con- 
necticut, leaving the business to his brother. Both 
were Presbyterians and A. K. Childs. who had a 
fine bass voice, was the mainstay of the choir. 
He afterwards joined the Episcopal church and 
a5, long as he lived was one of its most devoted 
members. Mr. Childs was a successful man of 
business. As one of the firm of Childs & Nicker- 



427 



son, President of the North Eastern Railroad, 
President of the National Bank of Athens, owner 
with Mr. Moss, of Tallulah Falls, and with in- 
terests in various other properties, he was one 
of Athens' most substantial citizens. But in ad- 
dition to this, Mr. Childs was a good man, up- 
right, charitable and kind. I do not suppose 
tl.at anyone ever spake an unkind word about 
him and he was by no means a colorless char- 
acter. 

CHAPTER LIX. 

It has been said by some one that environ- 
ment makes the man. It is doubtless too sweep- 
ing an assertion, but certainly Southern environ- 
ment seems to exert a more potent influence on 
Northern men than Northern environment on 
Southern men. 

Very few Southern men are recalled who 
during the war espoused the Federal side, and 
they were office holders. But many Northern 
men, who were domiciled in the South, became 
ardent supporters of the Confederacy. Among 
these were Dr. Hoyt, Dr. Church, Mr. Childs, 
Mr. Bloomfield and Captain Nickerson. Gen- 
eral M. L. Smith, a native of New York, re- 
signed his commission in the old army, and 
with it the promise of high promotion, to join 
his fortunes with those of the South. Isaac W. 



428 

Ilallam, a Northern man, volunteered with the 
Athens Guards and for four years was as good 
a soldier as any who followed Lee. George 
Homer and H. M . DeLacy and J. J. Karnes 
were others who endured and fought for the 
South. These were Union men. like thou- 
sands of Southerners, who deplored the neces- 
sity of secession, but who went into the move- 
ment heart and soul. 

The difiference in the individual Rebel and 
Yankee was, after all, far less marked than one 
would suppose if we eliminate political bias 
and peculiarities of tones and manners. Both 
were Americans and when fighting for a con- 
viction made the best soldiers in the world. 

For many years the sole dependence of Athens 
for water in case of fires was wells and a few 
cisterns. When the cry of fire was heard every 
m.an and boy ran first for a bucket and then for 
the fire. A line was formed from the nearest 
well to the fire and buckets of water were passed 
from hand to hand. 

About 1880 a company built water works, 
which proved totally inadequate to the demands 
upon it. The pressure was not sufficient to 
throw water to the second story of a house on 
Mill edge avenue, and several houses were burned 
because there was no water to be had. After 
years of complaint from all quarters the city de- 
termined to build its own water works. A com- 



429 



ir.ission was created, composed of J. H. Rucker, 
A. L. Hull and C. M. Straban, to have charge of 
its erection. 

To Captain J. W. Barnett, the engineer, be- 
longs the chief credit of this plant, which, com- 
pleted in 1893, has proved entirely satisfactory 
to the present day. The machineiy and the con- 
struction of the Athens water works was the 
very best, the supply is ample and the water 
pure. And yet we often long to quaff the 
sparkling water from the deep old well, to hear 
the squeak of the wheel as the old oaken bucket 
uncoils the rope on the windlass and to see the 
cold water spatter over the floor as the bucket 
is filled for the house. All this is gone. The 
well suspected of entertaining germs has been 
filled in. A crock or something of flat hydrant 
water, sickening warm without ice, is all we 
have in its place. 

But there are no pathogenic germs in our 
hydrant water. It is taken from the river above 
any area of drainage from the city, exposed to 
the full light of the sun in a large shallow set- 
tling basin, then passed through sand filters into 
a clear water basin, from which it is forced 
through the mains to the consumer. Any self- 
respecting bacillus would back out rather than 
go through all this. 

When the slogan, "Remember the Maine," 
aroused the country to take vengeance on the 



430 

proud Castillian and war was declared against 
Spain, Athens sent her quota of volunteers, not 
all of whom were accepted. 

Captain J. H. Beusse, who commanded the 
Athens Guards, tendered the services of the com- 
pany to the War Department. The policy of the 
Government did not permit companies to retain 
their organizations, and the Guards as such were 
not accepted. Those members who persisted 
were assigned to the Second Regiment of Geor- 
gia Volunteers. Captain Beusse was made Cap- 
tain of Company G, and C. A. Vonderleith, First 
Lieutenant ; Herschel Carithers was Orderly Ser- 
geant. The regiment went into camp at Tampa, 
but saw no active service and was mustered out in 
February, 1899. 

In addition to these Bailey Thomas also volun- 
teered, was made Captain of Engineers and 
afterwards served in the Philippines until fail- 
ing health forced his resignation. 

As the soldiers usually spent all their pay as 
soon as they got it, the location of a regiment in 
camp meant a lively trade to the merchants of the 
town. Efforts were made to secure the location 
of a camp near Athens. Three regiments, the 
Fifth New York. Fifteenth Pennsylvania and 
the Twelfth New Jersey, were ordered here and 
Brigadier General W. C. Oates was assigned to 
their command. General Oates was an old Con 



431 



federate who had lost his arm at Missionary 
Ridge. 

The soldiering was play. The young officers 
were hospitably entertained by the citizens and 
the young ladies showed none of that aversion 
to the Federal soldier which had led to the airest 
of their mothers a third of a century before. 
Several of these ungrateful men came back after- 
wards and actually carried off some of our love- 
liest girls before the very eyes of their fathers ; 
and some of the New Jersey soldiers came back 
and entered college to take a course in football. 

The Fifth New York was ordered to Cuba, the 
two other regiments were ordered home in Feb- 
ruary, the camp was deserted and the retail mer- 
chant jingled the harvest in his pocket. That 
winter was the cloudiest, wettest, coldest we had 
had in many years. It was a standing joke to 
ask "Where is your Sunny South?" 

When the Yankees came to Athens in 1865 
and w^ere prowling about smoke houses and in- 
vading private residences, Mrs. T. R. R. Cobb 
wrote a note to General Palmer and asked that 
she might have a guard to protect her home. A 
young soldier was detailed who stayed at the 
house, permitted no prowlers to come upon the 
premises, and by his unobtrusive politeness al- 
layed, in part, the antipathy of the ladies to the 
Yankees. 

When General Oates' brigade was encamped 



432 

here in 1898 Colonel W. A. Krepps was in com- 
mand of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania. When 
Colonel Krepps came to Athens he made some 
inquiry about Mrs. Cobb and the writer called 
on him. He proved to be the identical soldier 
who was detailed in 1865 and recalled many in- 
cidents of that visit. It is needless to say that 
ancient hostilities were forgotten and the hos- 
pitality of the home was extended to the colonel 
and quondam guard. 

The camp of Oates' brigade was on the high 
ground beyond Phinizy's branch. An entertain- 
ment was given the public in the nature of a 
sham battle between the Jerseymen and the 
Quakers. It had about it all the pomp and cir- 
cumstance of war and sounded like a sure enough 
skirmish in old times. Lots of Uncle Sam's pow- 
der was burned, only one man hurt and every- 
body w^as pleased with the free show. 

It was curious to note the reception of these 
soldiers by our people. Many of the older citi- 
zens had not seen a Federal soldier in uniform 
since the war and they could not dissociate the 
defender of our country from the Yankee bum- 
mer. They admired the parades, they were polite 
to the stranger, but were shy with the soldier in 
blue. During a grand parade when the entire 
brigade marched in review before Generals Oates 
and S. M. B. Young, an old veteran, who had 
lost an arm at Spottsylvania. stood near me on 



433 



College Avenue looking at the regiments as they 
passed. Said I : "Mr. Woods, what do you think 
of them?" "I think if I had a gun I would like 
to shoot into them," he replied. 

CHAPTER LX. 

Among other social clubs, two musical socie- 
ties deserve special mention. One was the "Sym- 
phony Club," of whom Prof. Schirmaker was 
director, and Prof. Willcox and Mrs. T. A. 
Burke, prominent members. Mr. Schirmaker 
was one of the Lucy Cobb faculty and a violinist 
of high rank. This club gave monthly concerts, 
which were always well attended. The music 
v/as of a high order, but not too classical to be 
enjoyed by the audience. Still later a Choral 
Society was organized by Dr. J. P. Campbell, 
who has done so much for the music of Athens, 
and Mrs. E. T. Brown, as accomplished a musi- 
cian as she is attractive in person, was director. 
Several oratorios were presented by this societv 
in an admirable manner. The "Messiah" and 
the "Holy City ' were especially well done. Both 
of these oratorios being religious in their compo- 
sition, were given in the Presbyterian church. 

Social clubs of this kind make some trouble 
for the leaders and soon fall through, but they 
not only give a great deal of pleasure, but have 



434 

an educational value and are intrinsically wortli 
all the labor of keeping them alive. 

The panic of 1873 hit Athens a hard blow, and 
yet there were comparatively few failures among 
the business men owing to the conservative 
methods which have obtained liere. The most 
far-reaching of all was' that of the Reaves Ware- 
house Company. This firm did an immense busi- 
ness. They had made heavy advances to custom- 
ers, had taken many pieces of real estate and 
had borrowed large sums of money from banks 
and from individuals. When trouble in the money 
market became acute and they could not meet 
the demands upon them. Mr. Reaves executed 
mortgages to all his property to secure the credi- 
tors and next morning the city was astounded 
by the news of a failure involving more than 
$200,000. 

In May, 1899, John A. Benedict went to 
Greenville, S. C, in the interests of a small manu- 
factory he was operating. He had been gone sev- 
eral days, writing back daily to his family, when 
he suddenly disappeared. He was remembered 
tc have been seen in the hotel lobby and to have 
spoken to someone as he passed out of the door, 
but from that hour no trace of him has ever been 
found. His baggage was found in his room un- 
disturbed. The river was dragged, the countrv 
around Greenville was searched, his loss was ad- 
vertised, descriptive circulars were scattered and 



435 



rewards offered for any information leading to 
his discovery, dead or alive, but all with no re- 
sult. 

To no place in Georgia do the thoughts of so 
many turn with affection as to Athens. And 
there is a good reason for it. More than five 
thousands students, male and female, have first 
and last spent from one to five years here at the 
time of life when impressions are most lasting. 
Athens people have always taken the students 
Lo their hearts. There is but one thing more in- 
teresting than the college boy and that is the 
school girl, and she doesn't admit even that ex- 
ception. 

College students are the most democratic of 
folks. Wealth and family have their influence, 
but are a delusion and a snare at college unless 
backed up by manly qualities and force of char- 
acter. And the people of Athens have fostered 
that spirit in their reception of the college boy 
into the society of the place. Let him be a gentle- 
man and his introduction is easy into the best 
homes of the town, and many a shy country boy 
has had his angularities smoothed and his man- 
ners made easy by association with the best of 
people. His tastes are refined, his clothes fit bet- 
ter, he wears his cap \yith a jauntier air and even 
essays to lead the german. Critics may condemn 
as they choose, but these things go to make up 



436 

the sum of life and prove to be a help hi 
mingling with other men. 

It is not always the studious boy who derives 
the most good from college life. Numbers oi 
men can be recalled who left college — some were 
sent home — because they would not study or 
broke the commandments of the faculty. And 
these very men give large credit to the associa- 
tions formed at college for their sucess in life. 

If in these imperfect "annals of a quiet neigh- 
borhood" I have appeared to do someone injus- 
tice in failing to do him credit, let me here dis- 
claim any intention to do so. It is not the few 
who make a state, but the many individuals work- 
ing harmoniously together. So, though there are 
dominant characters who lead, the city after all, 
it made up of the many who follow. There were 
many in the past who pursued the even tenor of 
their way, living upright lives, helping their fel- 
low men, serving their country, esteemed in lif>> 
and missed when dead, and there are those now 
in life who unobtrusive in their lives, will be 
n:ourned in death. 

In this connection there come to my remem- 
brance John H. Christy, long editor of The 
Southern Watchman, who was refused a fairlv 
won seat in Congress ; and Henry Beusse, once 
a sailor, a man with a checkered career, first 
captain of the "Pioneers," Mayor, County Treas- 
.u-er,a genial Teuton and universally popular ; 



437 



Colonel Benjamin C. Yancey, courteous and 
courageous ; and David C. Barrow, the elder, an 
ante-bellum planter and a post-bellum farmer ; 
and Stevens Thomas ; and Dr. Hamilton and Col- 
onel Hardeman ; and Clovis G. Talmadge, pub- 
lic spirited citizen ; and Dr. Josiah C. Orr, quon- 
dam postmaster and genial man. 

And among the living, it is not invidious to name 
Captain Reuben Nickerson, conservative and 
wise, one of the builders of Athens, who with his 
excellent wife, have to their credit the benevolent 
deeds of three-score years ; and R. L. Moss, now 
perhaps the oldest citizen ; and Dr. E. S. Lyndon, 
still young, although a veteran, jovial when not 
dyspeptic, generous and clever ; and Howell 
Cobb, nearl}- thirt}' }-ears continuously on the 
bench, an upright judge, a sympathetic friend, a 
prophetic statesman who is in the hearts of aH 
the people ; and Hal Linton, Tax Collector of the 
County for the same time, who has never had any 
opposition worthy the name; and W. S. Holman, 
a Kentuckian, who for forty years has dealt in 
h.orse flesh and never yet taken an unfair ad- 
vantage in a trade ; and Dr. H. C. White, a factor 
in University and social life for a third of a cen- 
tury ; and David C. Barrow, who when elected 
Chancellor, received such an ovation from the 
students as was never accorded to any other man. 
But I should be a faithless chronicler should I 
omit to acknowledge the debt Athens owes to her 



438 



good women. But where should I begin, and 
with whom could I end? The Athens girl buds 
early. Probably the college boy has something 
t'.' do with it. But she is none the less lovely for 
that — possibly a little green, but nevertheless 
sweet. During her salad days the boys love her 
as one of them said once, "like a cow loves 
violets." They waste their time on her and 
spend their father's money for her. And it don't 
graze her. 

The college widow has not lost her attrac- 
tions. She has^^simply passed out of the class of 
beaux which made her a belle. Her experience 
has ripened her for more extensive and perma- 
nent conquests. She matures into a sensible wo- 
man and makes a helpful wife, ruling her house- 
hold, including her husband, with a firm but hid- 
den hand. 

Among many admirable women, there stand 
out prominently Mrs. Peninah Thomas, a state- 
ly dame who might have been a duchess, owning 
an elegant home and ample wealth, yet careful of 
her money ; and Mrs. Margaret Frierson, one of 
the kind we always call on in trouble, except that 
she didn't wait to be called — she was there al- 
ready ; and Mrs. Rebecca Hamilton, handsome 
even to old age, a pillar of strength in the Bap- 
tist church ; and Mrs. Williams Rutherford, so 
active in every good cause, a never tiring worker 
for the Confederacy and its memories ; and Mrs. 



439 



Sampson Harris, long before her death the oldest 
native born Athenian. But the time would fail 
me to tell of Mrs. Hull and Mrs. Camak, Mrs. 
Stovall and Mrs. Lumpkin and "Sirs. Lucas and 
Mrs. Hill and the long list of excellent women 
who have sustained the character of Athens. 

In looking back over these pages, which are 
admittedly gossipy in their nature, one fact is 
patent — that for its size, Athens has raised up 
more strong and independent characters than 
any other town a hundred years old ; and another, 
that her growth has been continuous — saving 
the war period — from the days when she envied 
the greatness of Milledgeville imtil the present. 

In one thing her citizens lack faith. In six- 
ty-five years they have not had the temerity to 
put their money into a new hotel.. They build 
stores and factories and laundries and opera 
houses, but won't risk a hotel. It may be due 
however, to the sentiment which moved Gen. 
Toombs when asked to take stock in a new hotel 
in Washington, to say "We don't want any hotel 
in Washington. If a gentleman comes to town 
send him to my house. If he is no gentleman we 
don't want him here." But still we can sav of 
Athens "With all they poor hotels we love thee 
still." 

In bringing these annals to a close I shall not 
attempt a description of Athens of today, nor 
shall I inflict upon the patient readsr of this book 



440 

statistics of her wealth and growth. They mav 
be found elsewhere. I am writing about people — 
i care not whether they be rich or poor — and 
events. The events of today are repeated tomor- 
row and forgotten, unless colored by tradition 
they chance to live, gaining something with each 
relating. Br.t scripia fcnint aiinios — things writ- 
ten survive the years. 

And often the mention of some name not con- 
spicuous in the history of the place and of no in- 
fluence whatever, will start a train of thought 
v;hich brings up recollections of the past and 
memories of persons once friends now gone 
from sight. 

Limlled in the countless chambers of the brain 
Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; 

Awake but one, and lo! what myriads rise! 
Each stamps its image as the other flies. 

If the thoughts awakened b\- these annals shall 
give the reader as much pleasure as they have 
given the writer, then both will be content. 



Some Genealogies of Athens People 

In Georgia scenes, Judge Longstreet has depicted 
with equal humor and truthfulness the propensity 
of age to discuss genealogies. Who has not seen th'.i 
eye dimmed by years brighten with keen interest in 
the momentous question: "Who married who?" I 
myself, though no octogenarian, confess to a genuine 
pleasure in climbing family trees. 

In presenting the genealogies of some of the old- 
est families, I entertain the hope that this appro- 
priate appendix to the Annals of Athens may add a 
pleasant hour to some life well on in years. Doubt- 
less some errors will be found in the tables, but hav- 
ing exhausted the means at my command of obtain- 
ing information, I spread them before the reader's 
eye. 

JAMES BANCROFT married MATILDA R. JEAN- 
NERETTE. 

Came from Charleston in 1844. 

1 — JAMES m. 1, Sarah Burkmeyer; 2, Emily Burk- 
meyer: 

Matilda m. A. H. Steedman. 
2— EDWARD m. Martha A. Scott: 

Edward m. Lucy Eppes; Cornelia m. 
R. K. Bloomfield; Matilda; Emily; Cath- 
erine; Joseph, d.; Martha; Ada, m. W. 
E. Eppes; Percival m. Ida Grissom. 



442 



3— EMILY m. William E. Eppes: 

Matilda; Francis m. M. Bancroft; Clel- 
land; James; Emily; Lucy, m. E. Ban- 
croft; William E., m. Ada Bancroft; 
Maria; E. Bancroft. 

4 — MARIA m. William Rivers: 

Wiliam; Arthm-; Christopher; Wini- 
fred; Lily; Albert. 

5— ELIZABETH m. Isaac W. Hallam: 

Matilda; James R.; Thomas M. 

6— MATTHEW V., d. 

7— GEORGE D. m. Jesse Winkler. 

DAVID C. BARROW married ELIZABETH POPE. 

Came from Oglethorpe County 1858., 

1— M. POPE m. 1, Sallie Craig: 

Middleton P., m. Alma Jones; Lizzie 

Craig; James; David C; Craig mar- 
- ried 1, Alice Barker; 2 Elfrida DeRenne 
m. 2, Cornelia Jackson: 

Florence, d.; Lucy; Patience; Sarah. 
2— JAMES, d. 
3— THOMAS A. m. 1, Jennie Turner: 

Sarah, d., David C, m. Emily Hand; 

Clara, 
m. 2, Alice Hand: 

Thomas; Cuthbert. 
4— LUCY m. John A. Cobb, q. v. 
5— CLARA E., d. 
6— NELLIE P. m. Bourke Spalding: 

Randolph. 
7— BENJAMIN W., d. 
8— DAVID C, m. Fannie I. Childs: 

Susie; Benj. H. ; Nellie; David F. 
9— HENRY W., d. 



443 

THOMAS W. BAXTER married MARY WILEY. 
Came from Hancock County 1831. 

1— ANDREW m. Martha Williams: 

Thomas W., m. 1, L. Aiken; 2, Bessie 
Fitzimmons; Alice; Narcissa, d. 

2 — MARY m. John J. Gresham: 

Thomas B., m. 1, 'Lula Billups, 2, Miss 
Johnson; Edmund, d.; Leroy, d.; Min- 
nie m. Arthur Machen; Edward T., d. 

3— THOMAS W. m. Ellen Scott. 

4— SAL'LIE C. m. W. Edgeworth Bird: 

Saida m. Victor Smith; Egeworth m. 
Imogene Reid; Mary Pamela, d. 

5— JOHN S. m. Carrie Tracey: 

Tracy m. Miss Tinsley. 

G— LEROY m. Mary Burton. 

7 — EDWIN G. m. Julia Hardwick: 
Edwin, d.; Leila, d. 

8— RICHARD B. m. Kate Rucker: 

John S., m. Mary Lawton; Edgeworth B. 
m. Ellen Alexander; Bessie m. Lane 
Mullaly; Georgia m. J. R. Boylston; 
Richard B. m. Sarah Cobb; Thomas W. 

JOHN BILLUPS married JANE ABBOTT. 

Came from Clarke County, 1836. 

1— JOEL ABBOTT m. 1, Susan Harris: 

Lula m. Thomas B. Gresham. 
m. 2, Mrs. Victoria Smith. 

2— HENRY C. m. Emma Conley: 

Julia m. Dr. Edward Branham. 

3— JANE m. Richard D. B. Taylor: 

Susie m. Fred B. Lucas. 



444 

4 — ANNA m. Wescom Hudgin: 

Annie m. John N. Carlton; Wescom, 

Janie; Thomas B. 
5— THOMAS C, d. 
G— C. WIILIAM. d. 
7— JOHN, d. 

THOMAS BISHOP married MARY CARLTON. 

Came from Vermont in 1839. 

EDWARD m. Mary M. Bingham: 

Mary C. m 1, Clovis G. Talmadge, 2, 
Isham H. Pittard; Edward T, d.; Helen 
L. m. H. K. Milner; Lucy M.; Merton, 
d. ; Arthur F. m. Cora Powell; Berton 
M. m. 1, Beatrice Taylor, 2, Cora Hen- 
derson; Charles B. m. Kate Allen. 
JAMES CAMAK married HELEN FINLEY. 
Came from Milledgeville, 1817. 
1— JAMES m. Mary Wellborn: 
James W., Louis. 
2— THOMAS U. m. Miss Ragland: 

Annie, d. 
3— MARGARET ANNE. 

JAMES R. CARLTON m. ELIZABETH A. ESPEY. 

Came from New Jersey, 1824. 

1— JULIA E. m. Charles B. Lyle: 

Sarah m. Whit Johnson; Charles, d.; 
Julia, d.; Clara, d.; William, d. 

2— JOSEPH B. m. Emma Moore: 

Julia E.; William A. m. 1, Annie Price, 2, 
Susie Lucas; Joseph H.; TjCila m, 
Charles L. Bartlett; James M., d. 



445 



3— WILLIAM E., d. 

4— JAMES A. m. 1, Martha Janes, 2, Mrs. Tallulah 

Taylor: 

Mary E. m. Macon Johnson. 
5— MARY AKN m. William H. Felton: 

Anna m. J. R. Gibbons. 
G— GEORGE A. m. A. McConnell: 

Belle, Benjamin. 
7— ELIZABETH AMERICA. 
9— HENRY H., m. Helen Newton: 

John N., m. Annie Hudgin; Henry H.; 

Olivia m. Geo. P. Butler; Helen m. John 

D. Mell; Marion S. 
10— BENJAMIN H., d. 
11— VIRGINIA T., d. 
12— GEORGIA C., d. 

AUGUSTIN S. CLAYTON married JULIA CARNES, 

Came from Augusta, 1807. 

I— GEORGE R., m. Ann Harris: 

William Jeptha, d.; Julia m. John 
Chandler; Almlra; Francis; Gary m. B. 
F. 'Larabee; Norma m. M. Wells. 

2— AUGUSTIN S., d. 

3 — WILLIAM W. m. Caroline Semmes: 

Julia m. E. F. Hoge; Mary m. C. W. 
Henderson; VVilliam H. m. Sarah Mor- 
ris; Sarah m. Benj. E. Crane; Caroline 
m. Wm. J. Irwin; Augusta, d. ; Augustin 
Smith; Thomas S., d.; Kate; Almira m. 
W. C. Sayre. 

4 — PHILIP W., m. Leonora Harper: 

Philip, d.; Thomas; William m. E. 
Brown; Mattie; Leonora m. D. C. Town- 
send; Kate; Robert; Avarilla; George. 



446 



5 — ALMIRA m. Joseph B. Cobb: 

Dora m. L. Redwood; Thomas; George; 
Zachry. 

6— EDWARD P. m. Elizabeth Bradford: 

Edward, d.; Mary m. Roswell King; Isa- 
bella, d.; Loring, d.; Anna m. R. S. Bur- 
well; Clifford, d. ; Norma. 

7 — JULIA S. m. Francis Baldwin: 

Clayton, d.; Mary, d. ; Francis; James, 
Claudia m. John Howze, Jr.; Julia. 

S— CLAUDIA m. John Howze: 

Augustin C. m. Vallie 'Long; Julia d.; 
John m. Claudia Baldwin; George; 
Claudia m. Mr. Jones; Lenora; Almira. 

9— AUGUSTA m. William King: 

Julia C. m. Henry W. Grady; Augusta 
m. William M. Howard; William. 

ALONZO CHURCH married SARAH TRIPPE. 
Came from Vermont, 1819. 

1-— ELVIRA m. William H. Lee: 

William H. m. Louise Waring; Alonzo C. 
2— SARAH JANE m. B. Frank Whitner: 

Alonzo C. m. Mary Marvin; Benj. C. m. 

E. Randolph. 
3— ELIZABETH W. m. 1, L. S. Craig, 2, James Robb: 

Sallie C. m. Pope Barrow, q. v. 
4 — JULIA M., m. Alexander Croom: 

Hardy m. Agnes Ware; Alonzo C. m. 

Mary Bond; Sallie C. m. T. B. Simpkins; 

Julia C. m. H. Randolph; Annie E. m. 

Porter Burrall. 
5 — ALONZO W., m. 1, Francis Moore, 2, Mary Rob- 
bins; 

Samuel R. ; James Robb; Mary R.; 

Alonzo; William W. 



447 



6— JOHN R., m. Mary Christy: 

Alonzo; Christy. 
7 — ANNA P., m. Benj. F. Whitner: 

Frank C; Annie L.; James H.; William 

C; Elizabeth H.; Hugh. 
S — WIL'LIAM L., m. Laura Randolph: 

Alonzo. 

JOHN A. COBB married SARAH R. ROOTES. 

Came from Jefferson County, 1818. 

1 — HOWELL m. Mary Ann Lamar, q. v. 

2 — LAURA m. Williams Rutherford, q. v. 

3— MILDRED m. Luther J. Glenn: 

John Thomas m. Helen Garrard; Sal- 
lie m. S. L. McBride; Howell C; Jud- 
son m. Lessie Few. 

4 — JOHN B. m. 1, Mrs. Mary Athena Lamar: 

Mildred; James J. m. Annie L. Mallory. 
m. 2, Alice Culler: 

Mary m. Mr. Pritchard; Eugenia m. Wil- 
liam B. Lowe. 

5 — MARY m. 1, Frank Erwin: 

Mary E., d.; Lucy C. m. A. W. Hill; 
Howell C. m. Ophelia Thorpe, 
m. 2, Dr. John M. Johnson: 

Sallie m. 1, Hugh Hagan, 2, Lucien 
Cocke; James. 

6— THOMAS R. R. m. Marion McH. Lumpkin, q. v. 

7— MATTIB m. John C. Whituer: 

John A. m. Lida Farrow; Eliza; Sallie 
m. Warren Howard; Mary Ann m. Ben 
C. Milner; Mattie m. Wm. J. Milner; 
Charles F. m. Margaret Badger; Thomas 
C. m. Emma Lou Tichenor. 



448 

HOWELL COBB married MARY ANN LAMAR. 

J — JOHN A. m. 1, Lucy Barrow: 

Wilson, d.; Sarah; Lucy M. m. James 

Taylor; Howell m. Annaret Gray; John 

A. 
m. 2, Martha Bivings: 

George; Elizabeth; Mattie. 
2 — LAMAR m. Olivia Newton: 

Basil L.; Mary Newton m. E. D. Sledge; 

Olivia m. W. C. Davis; Lamar; Edwin 

N. 
3— HOWELL m. Mary McKinley: 

William McK. m. Elizabeth Guyton; 

Thomas R. R. m. Maude Barker; Archie, 

d. ; Zach 'L. ; Sarah ra. R. B. Baxter; 

Carolyn; Carlisle- 
4— xMARY ANN m. Alex S. Erwin: 

Alex S., d.; Mary; Howell C; John L., 

d. ; Stanhope; Andrew; William S.: 
Catherine; Julian. 
5— SARAH m. Tinsley W. Rucker: 

Tinsley W.; Lamar C; Mary Ann: 

Kate. 

THOMAS R. R. COBB m. MARION M'H. LUMPKIN. 

1— LUCY, d. 

2- — SALLY m. Henry Jackson: 

Thomas C. m. Sarah F. Grant; Cornelia 
m. Wilmer L. Moore; Henry R.. d. ; Ma- 
rion McH. m. Eva Parsons; Callie m 
A. J. Orme; Davenport, d.; Florence K. 

3 — CALLIE m. Augustus L. Hull: 

Marion McH. m. Florence Murrow; May 
m. William H. Pope; Thomas C, d., 



449 



Julia E, d.; Henry; A. Longstreet; Jo- 
seph L.; Sally C; Callie. 

4— JOSEPH L., d. 

5— THOMAS R. R., d. 

6— MARION T. m. Hoke Smith: 

Marion; Hildreth, d.; Mary Brent; 
Lucy; Callie A. 

WILLIAM DEARING married ELIZA PASTEUR. 

Came from Charleston, 1827. 

1—WIL'LIAM E. m. Elizabeth Stovall: 

Louisa J. m. H. Edmonston; Anna M. 

m. T. Hardwick; Stevens T., d.; Wil- 
liam P. m. Mrs. Kennon; Clio m. J. H. 

Summers; Jocela m. John Winter; Albia 

m. Lula Speer. 
2— MARGARET m. Thomas H. Harden: 

William D. m. Lilla Bearing. 
3 — ALBIN P. m. Eugenia Hamilton: 

Hamilton m. Edith Goodwin; Sarah m. 

Emory Speer; Marian m. R.B.Lawrence; 

Albin m. Mrs. Bearing; William B. m. 

Helen McCay; John m. Jennie Buke. 
4 — MARION m. Governor Pickens of South Carolina. 
5— INBIANA m. John J Bearing: 

John. 
C— ALFREB m. Marcia Jones: 

William: Llewllyn; Lilla m. Wm. B. 

Harden; Marian m. John Schley; Ella 

m. Wm. B. Griffeth; Alfred m. Mary 

Wilson; Maria m. W. A. Cook; Nina m. 

Mr. Richard; Maisie m. Homer K. 

Nicholson. 
7— ST. CLAIR, d. 



450 

WILLIAM H. DORSEY ra. CATHERINE S. ERWIN. 

Came from Habersham County, 1843. 
1— ASENATH, d. 
2— ALBERT S. m. Susan Doble: 

Ida m. Alex H. Davison. 
3 — ANDREW B. C. m. 1, Sophronia Gilmore: 

William F. m. Cassie Beusse. 
m. 2, Mary Cosby: 

Mary C. m. Mr. McGauhey; John C; 

Julia m. Mr. Harkaway; Albert; Leone; 

Andrew; Louise. 
4 — JAMES P. m. Bessie Talmadge: 

Hugh H. m. Lizzie Coleman; Katie m. 

Fred Morris. 
5— JOHN H., d. 
6— WILLIAM, d. 
7— ELIZABETH m. John E. Talmadge: 

Charles A. m. Justine Erwin; Daisy m. 

Yancey Harris; John E. m. Olivia Bloom- 
field; Clovis m. Lucy Wells; Julius m. 

May Erwin. 
8— JOSEPH H. m. 1, Sallie Chappell: 

Fanny I.; Susie A.; Albert S.; Ed- 
ward H. 
m. 2, Mary A. Hargrove: 

Asenath; Ida May; Charley; Joseph H.; 

Elizabeth. 
9— EDWARD H. m. Laura Wilson: 

Louise; Edward H. 

CHARLES DOUGHERTY m. MRS. PURYEAR. 
Came from Clarke County, 1824. 

1— CHARLES m. Elizabeth Moore: 

Fanny m. Nat L. Barnard. 



451 



2 — WILLIAM m. Acsa Turner: 

Mary m. 1, Curran Houston, 2, Thomas 

Macon; Henry, d.; Robert, d.; Sukie m. 

Andrew Routh; Charles. 
8 — ROBERT m. Susan Watkins: 

William, d.; Charles, d.; Sarah m. R. 

H. Leonard; Rebecca m. W. Humphries; 

'Lucy. 

JOHN ESPEY married ELIZABETH PARK. 
Lived on Sandy Creek at Colt's Mills in 1795. 

1 — THOMAS m. Eleanor Witherspoon: 
James W. m. Ann Prince. 

2 — MARTHA m. Richard Wilson: 

Eliza, d.; John E., d.; Thomas H., d.; 
Mary A. m. J. Ratchford; Robert C. m. 
M. Stovall; Caroline, d.; James T., d.; 
Martha, d.; Richard J. m. 1, Virginia 
Harris, 2, Mrs. Christopher; Louisa J., 
d.; Evaline, d.; William J., d. 

3 — JANE m. Moses Wilson: 
Seven children. 

4— ELIZABETH m. James Witherspoon: 

John E., d. ; Amanda, d.; Cicero V., d.; 
Emily E., d. ; James Augustin, d.; Caro- 
line m. J. H. Laing; Robert L. m. Mary 
Boone. 

5— ROBERT m. 1, Margaret King, 2, Eliza King: 

Louisa m. John Weir; twelve other 
children. 

6— JOHN, d. 

7— JOSIAH, d. 

THOMAS GOLDING m. SUSAN STRONG. 

1— CORDELIA m. John S. 'Linton: 
Mary C. 



452 



2 — SARAH m. Wyche Hunter. 
3— THOMAS m. 1, Miss Crigler: 

Susan G. m. John Gerdine. 
m. 2, Rosa Crawford: 

John C; Sallie H.; Hunter; Charles; 

Lucy. 

MADAME GOUVAIN. 
Rosalie Reine Maude Claudine Josephine 
Yvron de Trobriand. 

Came from France, 1810. 

m. 1, GENERAL ANGE DE LA PERRIERRE, d. 
1— ADRIAN DE LA PERRIERRE, d. 
2~ANGE ANTOINE DE LA PERRIERRE m. Mary 
Thurmond: 

Rosalie J.; Marie Antoinette; James 
Boliver; Harrison Tallerand; Celeste 
Caroline m. Mr. Daniel; Angeline Vic- 
toria: Ange; William Preston; Emma, 
m. 2, MICHAEL GOUVAIN, d. 
3— WILLIAM GOUVAIN, d. 

4— MARIE ANTOINETTE CLAUDINE ROSE GOU- 
VAIN m. Dr. R. R. Harden: 

Evalina m. Asa M. Jackson; Wm. Pres- 
ton m. Sarah Murray; Napoleon B. m. 
Louisa Appling; Robert Raymond m 
Martha Durham; Marie Louise m. Wm. 
H. Thurmond: Caroline m. Sidney C. 
Reese. 

DANIEL GRANT married LUCY CRUTCHFIELD. 

Came from Walton County, 1826. 

1— JOHN T. m. Martha Jackson: 

William' D. m. Sarah Frances Reid. 



453 



2— LOVICK P. m. Mary Morrow: 

Mary m. William Dixon; Peter, Daniel. 
3— ELIZABETH m. Joseph Wilkins: 

Lucy m. H. D. D. Twiggs; Hamilton m. 

Lula Robertson; Grant m. Miss Aber- 

crombie. 

THOMAS N. HAMILTON m. SARAH BUDD. 

Came from Columbia County, 1842. 

1 — JAMES S. m. Rebecca Crawford: 

Mary; Thomas A. m. Amelia Tupper; 

Sarah m. E. A. Williams; Anna; Natalie 

m. Francis Fontaine; Emily m. S. G. Mc- 

Lendon; James S. m. Miss Seabrook; 

Ethel m. James S. Davant; Guy C. m. 

Stella Thomas. 
2— ANNE E. m. J. Watkins Harris, q. v. 
3— EUGENIA E. m. Albin P. Dearing, </. r. 
4— SARAH m. Benj. C. Yancey: 

Hamilton m. Florence Patterson; Mary 

Lou m. 1, Bowdre Phinizy, 2, Charles 

H. Phinizy. 
5— VIRGINIA m. M. C. M. Fulton: 

Thomas N. m. M. L. Bacon; Annie m. 

Mr. Peed; Eugenia m. M. B. Avery. 

STEPHEN W. HARRIS' m. SARAH WATKINS. 
Came from Eatonton, 1840. 

1 -SAMPSON W. m. Paulina Thomas: 

Sampson W. m. Lucy Todd; Hugh N. 
m. Caro Yancey; Fanny m. George Wal- 
lace; Belle m. Bernard Franklin; Sal- 
lie, d. 



454 

2 — MARY W. m. Hugh Nesbitt. 

3 — JAMES WATKINS m. 1, Anna Hamilton: 

Sarah m. J. F. Best; J. Watkins m. Eva 
Lowe; Anna m. Thomas W. Milner; 
Thomas H. m. Ethel Hillyer. 
m. 2, Miss Candler. 

4 — JANE V. m. James M. Smythe: 

Sarah H., d.; Mary F. m. C. P. Willcox; 
Samuel, d.; Arabella H. m. W. F. Rus- 
sell; William M m. Mrs. L. Randall; 
Susan P. m. G. F. Williams. 

5 — ANNA M. m. Robert B. Alexander: 

Arabella m. Thomas Boykin; Mary m. 
Harris Long; William, d.; Willis; Rob- 
ert. 

6— ARABELLA m. Benj. F. Hardeman: 

Sampson H. m. Julia Toombs; Belle m. 
John W. Brumby. 

7— STEPHEN WILLIS m. Louisa M. Watkins: 
Watkins, d.; Willis, d. 

8— CHARLES T., d. 

9— SUSAN M. m. William T. Baldwin: 

Harris m. Abbie Park; William; Susan 
m. T. Johnson; Sallie. 

10 — THOMAS m. Emily Bowling: 

Frank m. Sallie Roper; George D. m. 
Ella Kinnebrew. 

BLANTON M. HILL m. ANN HILL. 

Came from Oglethorpe County, 1840. 

1 — A. A. FRANKLIN m. Gazalena Williams: 
Frankie. 



455 



2 — GEORGIA m. Martin L. Strong: 

Annie m. Henry Clopton; Blanton H. 
3 — MARY ELLA m. William Cunningham. 
4— AUGUSTA m. William G. Noble: 

Blanton H.; Anna m. W. I. Sims; Mary 

Ella m. A. H. Allen; Augusta m. E. L. 

Mayer. 
5— BLANTON M., d. 
6— SUSIE m. Robert H. 'Johnston: 

Susie m. J. D. Price; Love. 

MRS. REBECCA FREEMAN HILLYER. 

Came from Wilkes County, 1821. 

1 — JOHN T. m. Mary Briscoe: 

Shaler; Catherine m. Julius Robins; 
, Hamilton B. m. Miss Story; Sarah m. 
Mr. Ballard; Juniusv; Robert; Edward. 

2 — JUNIUS m. Mrs. Jane Foster, nee Watkins, q, v. 

3— SHA'LER GRANBY m. 1, Elizabeth Thompson: 

Susan, d.; Mary m. J. W. Janes; Shaler 
G. m.. Leila Holloway; Francis L., d. 
m. 2, Elizabeth Dagg: 

John L. m. 1. Hattie Harrel, 2, Anna 
Rives, 3, Kate Green; Harriett, d.; Sara 
J. m. J. C. McDonald; Junius F. m. Eliza- 
beth Bensack; Frances R. m. W. A. 
Towers; 'Louisa C; Katherine C. m. T. 
L. Robinson; Emily m. Tl. G. Owen; 
Llewellyn P. m. Leila Hansel, 
m. 3, Mrs. Dorothy Lawton. 

JUNIUS HILLYER m. MRS. JANE WATKINS FOS- 
TER. 

Came from Wilkes County, 1821. 



456 

1 — EBEN m. Georgia E. Cooley: 

Ethel m. Hamilton Harris; Mabel m. 1, 
Warren P. Wilcox, 2, William A. Hemp- 
hill. 

2— GEORGE m. Ellen Cooley: 

Elizabeth m. P. M. Coker, Jr.; Minnie 
m. H. A. Cassin; Marion m. Bernard 
Wolff; George; Ellen m. Alfred C. 
Newell. 

3 — SHALER m. Annie Haley: 

4 — MARY m. George Whitfield. 

5— CATHERINE R. 

C — CARLTON m. Lucy C. Thomas: 
Henry 

7 — HENRY m. Mrs. Eleanor Hurd Talcott: 
William Hurd m. Mary D. Jones. 

8— EVA W. 

EDWARD R. HODGSON m. ANNE BISHOP. 

1— ELIZABETH m. Robert D. Mure. 
Robert D. 

2— WILLIAM H. m. Maria Kennard: 

Hallie m. William Mears; Annie m. Ar- 
thur Cox. 

3— EDWARD R., 2nd m. Mary V. Strahan: 

Edward R. 3rd m. Mary A. McCullough: 
Harry m. Marie Lowe; Hay; Frederick 
G. m. Margaret Passett; Nannette m. 
Hugh H. Gordon, Jr.; Walter B.; Mor- 
ton S.: Nell; Dorothy. 

4— ROBERT B., m. Annie A. Strahan: 
Roberta. 

5— ASBURY H.. m. 1, Julia Neal: 

Charles N. m. Irene Powell; Robert P. 
m. Mary Thomas; Julie m. David H. 



457 



McNeill; Prank; Henry, 
m. 2, Sallie Payne: 

Lily White; Asbury H., Jr. 
G— THOMAS B. m. Lily Johnson: 

Jean; Emory; Reginald; Asbury; 

Thomas. 
7 — ALBON C. m. Julie von Shraeder: 

Olivia m. Thomas Cover. 
8— JOSEPH M. m. Belle Turner: 

Mabel m. John B. Gamble; Edith; 

Ralph; Kate; Hugh; ClilTord. 
9— GEORGE T. m. India Coker: 

Joseph L.; Florence; Ruth; Marion; 

George. 
10— CHARLES, d. 

11— FREDERICK G. m. Ida Cartrell. 
12— FRANCIS M. m. Mamie Allan: 

Albon; Harold; Prince; Frederick; Roy; 

Russell. 

NATHAN HOYT m. MARGARET BLISS. 

Came from Vermont, 1829. 

1— THOMAS A. m. 1, Mary Harrison: 

Mary, d.; Harriet m. Robert Ewing; 

Alice Louise m. 1, Robert Trueheart, 

2, Joseph Henry: Lillian T. m. William 

White, 
m. 2, Sadie Cooper: 

Cooper. 
2— LOUISA C. m. Warren A. Brown: 

Edward T. m. Mary Mitchell; Louisa m. 

James Evans; Mary A. m. C. L. Smith. 
3 — WILLIAM D. m. 1, Florence Stevens: 

Mary Ella; Ida, d.; Florence; Margaret 

B.; William D. 



458 



m. 2, Anna Perkins: 

4— HENRY F. m. 1, Mary F. Hines: 
Frances m. Dr. Speer. 
m. 2, Mrs. Emily Roberts: 

5— ROBERT T. m. Annie Cothran: 

Elizabeth, d.; Mary m. Frank Gilreath; 
Annie L., d. ; Nathan; Wade C; Robert. 

6— MARGARET JANE m. Edward S. Axson: 

Ellen L. m. Woodrow Wilson; I. Stock- 
ton K.; Edward W. m. Florence C. 
Leech; Margaret R. 

HOPE HULL m. ANN WINGFIELD. 

Came from Wilkes County, 1803. 

1 — ASBURY m. 1, Lucy Harvie, 2, Maria Cook, q. v. 

2 — KENRY m. 1, Mary Bacon, 2, Mary A. Nisbet, q. v. 

3— FRANCES m. James P. Waddell: 

William Henry ra. Mrs. Mary Brumby 
Tew; Ann Pleasants, d.; Elizabeth; 
Moses H., d. 

ASBURY HULL married 1, LUCY HARVIE. 

1— WILLIAM HOPE, d. 

2— HENRY m. Anna Thomas: 

Seabrook m. Ella Eddings; Robert T., 
d.; Mary Ella m. Polk Hammond; Lucy 
G., d.; Henry H. m. Alice Baker; As- 
bury, d. 

3— GEORGE G. m. Mary Clifford Alexander: 

Lucy Harvie m. Geo. J. Baldwin; Hattie 
m. M. Cooper Pope. 

4 — Edward W. m. Cornelia Allen: 

Allen; Edward L.; Robert A., d.; Wil- 
liam Hope m. Mary B. Fuller. 



459 



5— JOHN HARVIE m. Eliza Pope: 

ATexander P.; Harvie m. Florence Mor- 
ris. 

6 — JAMES M. m. Georgia Rucker: 

James M. m. Mary Lyon; Asbury m. 
Alice Sibley, 
m. 2, MRS. MARIA COOK, 

HENRY HULL m. 1, MARY BACON. 

1— LUCY ANN m. John S. 'Linton: 

Henry H ; John S., d.; Julia, d.; Annie; 

Lucy. 
2— ASBURY HOPE, d. 
;:;— JULIA, d. 
4— WILLIAM HENRY, d. 

m. 2, MARY A NISBET. 
5— AUGUSTUS L. m. Callie Cobb: 

Marion McH. ni. Florence Murrow; May 

N. m. William H. Pope; Thomas C, d.; 

Julia E., d. ; Henry; A. Longstreet; 

Joseph L.: Sally Cobb; Callie. 
6 — LEILA M. m. James McKimmon: 

James; Mary Hull; Margaret; Arthur. 
7— JOHN HOPE m. Rosa Deloney: 

Rosa; Henry H.; William Deloney; 

'Leila May. 

HENRY JACKSON m. MRS. MARTHA ROOTES 
COBB. 

Came from England, 1811. 

1 — HENRY R. m. Cornelia Davenport: 

Henry m. Sallie Cobb; Howell C. m. 
Lizzie Renfroe; Davenport; Cornelia m. 
Pope Barrow, 
m. 2, Florence King. 



460 



2— SARAH m. Oliver H. Prince: 

Basilene; Oliver H., d.; Jaqueline m. Jor- 
dan Thomas; Henry J. 

3 — MARTHA m. Frank Erwin: 
Sarah E., d. 

WILLIAM JACKSON married MILDRED COBB. 

1— JAMES m. 1, Ada Mitchell: 

Minnie m. jos. Scrutchin; Walter M., 
d. ; Addie m. Mr. Rawson; Mary m. 
Webster Davis; Mattie m. Wm. M. Sla- 
ton. 
m. 2, Mrs. Mary Schoolcraft. 

2— MARTHA m. John T. Grant, (j. v. 

3— MARY ATHENA m. Andrew J. Lamar: 

Mary A. m. 1, Jeff Lamar, 2, Dr. Pat- 
terson; Andrew J. m. Mary Ellsworth, 
m. 2, John B. Cobb, </. r. 

4 — HESSIE m. William Couper: 

ClTarles; John C; James; Millard, d. 

ALEXANDER B. LINTON married JANE DANIEL. 

Came from Greensboro, 1829. 

1— JOHN S., m. 1, Cordelia Golding: 

Mary C. 
m. 2, Lucy Ann Hull: 

Henry H.; John S., d; Julia, d; Annie, 

Lucy. 
2 — MARY m. William Bacon. 
3— SAMUEL D., m. Mary A. Cunningham: 

Anna, d; John A.; William T. ; Janie.d; 

Minnie. 



(p. 



SK 



461 

4 — ANN m. Thomas Sparks: 

Linton m. Sarah Wimberly; Thomas, d: 

Sallie m. Hines Smith; William D. m. 

A. Wimberly; Samuel P. m. Mrs. Ed- 
^ wards; John V. d; Alexander H., d; 

-.Annie m. D. B. Hamilton; Charles J. 
5 — WILLIAlNwn. Indiana Grimes: 

Jane D., m. John Printup; Addie J8?* m. 
ii^^^»r — i^^fm Herndoii; Lillian m. B. Elliot; 

Florence m. jnb% Herndon. 
6— JAMES A., d. 

MRS. JAMES LONG, 

Came from Madison County, 1843. 

1— SARAH m. Giles Mitchell, (j. r. 

2— CRAWFORD W., m. Caroline Swain: 

Francis m. Marcus E. Taylor; Edward 
C. m. Cora Stroud; Florence m. John L. 
Barton; Eugenia m. A. O. Harper; Ar- 
thur m. C. Hunter; Emma. 

3— HENRY R. J., m. Mary L. Stroud: 

Mary m. Stephen Gould; Valeria m. A. 
C. Howze; William J. m. Julia Dur- 
rough. 

4 — ELIZABETH m. S. P. Thurmond: 

Sallied d.; Elizabeth m. I. G. Swift; 
Carrie. 

FREDERICK W. LUCAS m. MARTHA SINGLETON. 

Came from Jefferson County, 1830. 

1— SINGLETON N., d. 
2— MARY TERRELL. 
3— FREDERICK B., m. Susie Taylor: 

Fritz, d.; Grace; Lizzie Hurt; Henry 

Hull. 



462 

4— SARAH GARLAND m. Edward I. Smith: 

Garland; Edward; Rosa; May; Eliza 

beth. 
5— ELIZABETH m. Henry C. Bussey: 

Frederick, d; Mary m. Mr. Brannon; 

Nathaniel J. 
6— FRANCES W. 
7— JOHN H. m. Kate Moreno : 

Moreno; Kate; Mary T. ; Frederick W. 
8 — GEORGE E., m. Alesia Carson. 
9— SUSIE A., m. William A. Carlton. 
10— JOSEPH T. 

JOSEPH H. LUMPKIN m. CALLENDER GRIEVE. 

Came from Lexington, 1844. 

]— MARION McH., m. Thos. R. R. Cobb, q. v. 

2— JOSEPH TROUP m. Margaret King: 

Annie, d; Joseph H.; Juddie, d. 

3— CALLIE, m. Porter King: 

Joseph H. m. Eva Thornbury; Porter m. 
Carrie Remson; Thomas C. m. Mary 
Hurt. 

4— W. WILBBRFORCB m. 'Louisa King: 

Edwin K. m. Mary Thomas; Joseph 
Henry; Callie, d. 

5— LUCY, m. William Gerdine: 

John m. Susan Golding; Joseph H. L. m. 
1, Madeline Lumpkin, 2, Rebecca Mur- 
rah; Marion, d; William, d; Lucy; Ma- 
ry; Albinus m. Miss West; Lizzie m. Dr. 
Sykes. 

6— EDWARD P., d. 

7— JAMES M. 

8— CHARLES M., d. 

9— MILLER G., d. 



463 



10— ROBERT C, d. 

11— FRANK m. Katie Wilcox: 

Julia m. Mr. Brandon; Frank m. Annie 

Garrard. 

WILSON LUMPKIN m. 1, ELIZABETH WALKER. 
Came from Oglethorpe County, 1818. 

1— LUCY m. Middleton Pope: 

Sarah E. m. David C. Barrow. 
2 — ANN m. Augustus Alden: 

Ann E.; Marcellus; Lucy P. m. 1, R. 

Huson, 2, Geo. Chisholm; Marie L. m. 

T. C. Dempsey; Joseph L.; Allien V.; 

Augustus O.; Martha; Marcella m. Dr. 

Bartlett. 
3— PLEIADES ORION m. Margaret Wilkinson: 

William; Wilson; Flora m. Mr. McLiain; 

George W.; John W.; Daniel P.; Pleia- 
des O. 
4— WILSON, d. 
5— WILLIAM, d. 
6— ELIZABETH m. O. B.. Whatley: 

Lucy m. G. W. Chisholm; Martha m, D. 

Whitehead; Wilson L., d.; Mary A. m. 

R. Gammon; Taletha, d.; Ella Annis, d.; 

Oliver B. m. Miss Byest. 
7— SAMUEL H. d. 

m. 2, ANNIS HOPKINS. 
8 — JOHN C. m. Mrs. Reanson. 
9— MARTHA m. Thos. M. Compton. 

WILLIAM MITCHELL married SARAH LETCHER. 
Came from Virginia, 1803. 

1— THOMAS m. Nancy Hanby, q. v. 

2 — WILLIAM m. Elizabeth Chawning, q. v. 



464 



3— RACHEL m. Hugh Neisler: 

Hugh N. m. Caroline Howard; Sarah C. 
m. W. L. Mitchell, q. v.; Martha L.; 
Frances E. m. R. Iverson; Ann R. ; Su- 
san H.; William B.; Mary J. m. P. W. 
Hutcheson. 

THOMAS MITCHELL married LUCY HANBY. 
Came from Virginia, 1803. 

1— WM. LETCHER m. Martha Cheatham: 

Mary m. Patten G'riffeth; Cicero m. El- 
mira Smith; Ella m. Camp Colbert; Al- 
bert 'L. m. Jessie Durham; Martha. 

2— MADISON, d. 

3— JONATHAN, d. 

4 — GILES m. Sarah A. Long: 

James, d.; Ann m. E. P. Eberhart; S. 
Dalton m. Panny Wallace; Emma m. 
James D. Matthews. 

5— ARCHELUS H. m. Jane Rochell. 

5— SAMUEL. 

7— THOMAS A. 

8— SARAH. 

9— CHAR'LOTTE. 

10— ELIZABETH. 

11— NANCY. 

WILLIAM MITCHELL m. ELIZABETH CHAWNING. 

Came from Virginia, 1803. 

1— WILLIAM L. m. Sarah Neisler: 

Hugh N. m. 1, L. McMillan, 2, Jane 
Nash; William C. m. Sarah Huff; John 
F.; Ann S. m. S. N. Dawson; Susan A., 
d.; Frances L. ; Julia m. James Collins; 
Walter H. m. E. Pendergrass. 



465 



m. 2, Lucretia Bass: 

Henry B. m. . 

2— WALTER H. m. C. Alexander: 
Ada m. James Jackson. 

ALSA MOORE married FRANCES CARY. 

Came from Clarke County, 1821. 

1— ELIZABETH m. Charles Dougherty, q. v. 
2— EMILY m. 1, Cicero Holt: 

Caroline m. Benj. H. Hill; Cicero m. 

Nancy Parham. 
m. 2, John I. Huggins: 

Martha m. S. M. Harrington; Alsa, d. 
3— RICHARD D. m. 1, Elizabeth Stockton: 

Addie m. Thomas F. Screven; Frances 

m. Dr. Dupree; Fidelia, d.; Elizabeth; 

S. Elliott, 
m. 2, Emma McAllister. 
4— LUCY ANN m. S. J. Mays. 
5 — ALSA m. Sarah A. Park: 

John A. m. Mary E. Hull; Richard D. m. 

C. Harrison; Charles E.; Sarah F. m. 

Henry P. Camp; Mary L.; Robert T. 
6— FRANCES m. James Shannon: 

James M.; Richard D. ; Evalina; Wil- 
liam; Eugenia; Virginia m. John Faulk: 

Charles; John C. ; Cornelia m. Mr. 

White; Lina. 
7— CAROLINE V. m. John Huggins: 

Fanny C. m. Dr. Harris; John; Emma; 

Augusta; Edward. 
8— PEYTON E. m. Kate Applegate: 

Kate m. 1, W. Moore, 2, J. S. Williford: 

Peyton E., d.; Caroline, d.; Thomas C. 



466 



9— MARY H. m Daniel G. Hughes: 

Dudley M..m. Mary Dennard; Caroline 
m. Charles D. Hill; Fanny m. Irwin 
Dennard; Lucy. 

JOSIAH MORTON married JUDITH STONE. 

Lived on the "Joe Morton place," six miles from 

Athens, in 1795. 

1— JOSEPH m. Mary Matthews: 

C. Parks m. Martha Crane; William 
Henry m. 1, Miss Fraser, 2, Miss Powell; 
Leila m. Geo. T. Murrell. 

2 — WILLIAM M. m. Mary Jones, q. v. 

3 — JOHN m. Elizabeth Landrum. 

4— MARGARET m. Nat C. Barnett. 

WILLIAM M. MORTON married 1, MARY JONES. 

1— MARY ANN m. John Bonnell: 

William B. m. Alice Wright; John; 
Susie m. H. H. Stone. 

2— LOUISA m. J. S. Wiggins. 

3— CAROLINE m. Dr. A. Walthour. 

4— WILLIAM J. m. Rosina White: 

Katie m. Geo. D. Thomas; Frederick m. 
Bert Latimer; Margaret m. Thomas P. 
Stanley; Matilda m. Charles M. Snell- 
ing; John White m. Mary Lou Hinton; 
Audley; Wm. Joseph. 

5— SUSAN m. 1, John Phinizy: 
John, 
m. 2, C. F. Bryant. 

6— MARTHA m. C. McDonald: 

Carrie m. Wm. Krenson; Bessie m. Kib- 
ber Jelks; Mattie m. Mr. Wade; Wil- 
liam. 



467 



7 — -CLARA m. James R. Lyle: 

Annie M.; Clara L. m. R. W. Sizer; Mary 

F. m. Eugene Lyle; Crawford. 
8— JOSEPHINE m. H. Nichols. 
9— JOHN m. Sarah Bailey: 

Sophie m. Lea Robinson; 'Lou m. Robert 

Stephens; Paul; Robert, 
m. 2, MARTHA LESTER. 

JOHN D. MOSS married MARTHA STRONG. 
Came from Oglethorpe County, 1840. 

1 — RUFUS L. m. 1, Minnie Anthony, 2, EFizabeth 
Luckie: 

Minnie, d.; Rufus L. m. Leila Strong; 
Lilly; Elizabeth, d.; John D. m. Byrd 
Lee Hill; Martha m. Emmett J. Bondu- 
rant; Sarah Hunter; William L. 

2— JAMES O, d. 

3— JOHN CHESTERFIELD m. Katherine Echols. 

4— SALLIE m. Thomas C. Newton. 

5— JULIA P. 

JOHN NEWTON m. KATHERINE LOWRANCE. 

Came from Oglethorpe County, 1810. 

1— FIDELIA m. John S. Fall: 

2— JOSIAH m. 1, Peninah Strong: 

Peninah m. Mr. Griswold. 
m. 2, Mrs. Sisson. 

3— ELIZABETH m. Joseph Ewing: 

Joseph; Leander; Alvan m. Louisa New- 
ton. 

4— EBENEZER m. Ann Strong: 

John T. m. Miss Lloyd; Henry m. Jane 
Ash; Charles m. Mrs. Coleman; Sarah 
m. Mr. Dozier; Jane m. Wm. Hall; Susan 
m. Mr. Bennett. 



468 



5— CYNTHIA m. Robert Hall: 

John N.; Caroline; Maria; Robert; Cyn- 
thia; William m. Jane Newton; Thomas; 
Ann; Elizabeth. 

ELIZUR L. NEWTON m. ELIZABETH CALLIER. 
Came from Oglethorpe County, 1810. 

1— WILLIAM H. m. Miriam Walker: 

Ellzur L. m. Julia Bailey; John T. m. 
Kitty Chllds; Eliza m. James B. Con- 
yers; William W., d.; James T. m. 1, 
Lucy Flewellen, 2, Helen Bennett; Fan- 
nie C. m. Wm. H. Steele; Lucy S. 

2— ROBERT, d. 

3— MARTHA m. H. Anderson. 

4— CORNELIA m. Sanford Williamson: 

Alice m. W. A. Jester; John N. m. Kate 
Wlngfleld; George H. 

5— EDWARD P. m. Theresa Brawner. 

6— JOSEPH m. W. Williamson. 

?— EBENEZER, d. 

8— MARY E. m. N. P. Carraker. 

9— JAMES C. m. Mrs. W Roland. 

10— ALONZO C. d. 

DR. JAMES NISBET married PENELOPE COOPER. 

Came from Statesville, N. C, 1819. 

1— MiLUS C. m. Mrs. M. Robinson. 

2 — ALFRED M. m. Sarah Edwards: 

Joseph H.; Elizabeth m. Joseph Le- 
Conte; Edward A. m. H. Waters; Emily 
H. m. B. M. Polhill; Sarah A. m. Alex 
Moffit; Mary O., d. 

S — AMANDA m. James Irwin. 

4— JOHN THOMAS, d. 



469 

5— EUGENIUS A. m. Amanda Battle: 

Charles E. m. 1, Virginia Jones, 2, Fran- • 
ces Evans; James T. m. Mary S. Wing- 
field; Reuben B. m. 1, Mary Dennis, 2, 
Mrs. M. Nisbet; Laura m. Samuel jBr-' ^^ 
Boy kin; Richard H. m. Martha Dennis; 
Ophelia E. m. Wm. A. Reid; Mary F. 
m. P. H. Wright; Frank L. m. Annie 
Wingfield; Eugenia, d.; Leila m. Coun- 
cil Wright. 

6— EMILY O. m. Richard K. Hines: 

Amanda m. Richard Hobbs;- Richard K. ; 
Eugenius, d. ; Sarah m. L. P. D. War- 
ren; Emily N. m. 1, M. Roberts, 2, 
Henry F. Hoyt; Iverson A. m. R. Al 
friend; Alfred N., d.; Mary F. m. Henry 
F. Hoyt. 

7— SARAH m. I, William LeConte: 

Anna m. Clifford Anderson; James m. 
Mary Gordon; William L. m. Virginia 
Trimble; Ophelia m. Frank H. Stone, 
m. 2, Edward B. W^eed: 

Joseph E. Weed, d. 

8— JAMES A. m. Frances Wingfield: 

Irene m. Geo. H. Hazlehurst; John W. 
m. Henrietta Wingfield; James Cooper 
m. Mary E. Young; Anna Lou m. Mar- 
shall De Graffenried; Mary A., d. ; 
Frank, d. 

9— FRANKLIN A. m. Anna Alexander: 

William L. m. M. Whitaker; Eugene, d.; 
James W. m. E. Abercrombie; Frank L. 
m. E. Whitaker: Robert A. m. 1, Flor- 
ence Bloom, 2, Mrs. Hunter; Leonard, 
d. ; Elizabeth ni. Wm. L. Dennis; Mar- 
tha C. m. Wm. 'L. Dennis; Alfred, d. 



470 

10— OPHELIA A., d. 

JOHN NISBET married HARRIET COOPER. 

Came from Statesville, N. C, 1823. 

1 — MARY A. m. Henry Hull, q. v. 

2— THOMAS C. m. Mary C. Gumming: 

Joseph C, d.; Eliza C, d. ; Haftie m. 

Edward C. Latta; Cooper, d. 
3— SARAH E. m. Martin L. Smith: 

Victor m. Saida Bird; Lina m. Richard 

E. Shaw; J. Nisbet m. Fanny Rockwell. 
4 — HARRIET m. 'Louis LeConte: 

Eva; William, d.; John N.; Louis E. m. 

Carrie A^ams. 
5— MARGARET I. 

JACOB' PHINIZY married 1, MATILDA STEWART. 

Came from Oglethorpe County, 1832. 

1— FERDINAND m. 1, Harriet Bowdre, 2, Ann S. 

Barrett, (j. v. 
2— MARCO m. Mrs. Dancey. 
-JOHN T. m. Eliza Watkins: 

John T., d.; Elizabeth m. S. C. Pointer; 
Margaret m. J. A. Strong. 
4— JACOB, d 
5 — SARAH m John M. Billups: 

Anna m. W. B. Harris; Jacob m. Jennie 
Tarlton; Sallie; Susan B. m. R. F. Hud- 
son; Margaret m. R. Patterson; John M. 
G— MARGARET m. J. B. Lockhart. 

m. 2, MRS. SARAH MERIWETHER. 

FERDINAND PHINIZY m. 1, HARRIET BOWDRE. 

Came from Oglethorpe County, 1832. 

1— F. BOWDRE m. MaiT Lou Yancey: 

Bowdre; Hattie m. Samuel Mays. 



471 



2 — STEWART m. Marian Cole: 

Ferdinand; Eliza; Cole; Marie; Louise; 

Isietta; Stewart. 
3 — LEONARD m. Annie Martin: 

Anita; Leonard; Marian; Jack. 
4— LOUISE m. Abner R. Calhoun: 

F. Phinizy; Andrew; Susan m. Junius 

Oglesby; Harriet. 
5— JACOB m. 1, Vanna Gartrell, 2, Mrs. Foster. 
6— MARION. 
7— BIL'LUPS m. Nellie Stovall: 

Annie B. ; Bolline; Mattie Sue; Nellie; 

Louise. 

8— HARRY H., d. 

m. 2, ANN S. BARRETT. 
9— BARRETT m. Martha Glover. 
10— CHARLES H. m. Nellie Wright: 
Charles H.; Anne, d. 

CHARLES M. REESE married 1, MISS MILLER. 

1— WILLIAM M. m. Lucy Pettus: 

Milton m. Miss Hudson; Sarah. 

2— SIDNEY C. m. Caroline Harden: 

Marion m. Jeff Lane; Anna, d. ; Charles 
S. m. Vada Bostwick; Julia m. A. A. 
McDuflie; Lucy. 
ni. 2, MRS. MERIWETHER. 

3— JANE m. Sam C. Williams. 

4— ANDERSON W. m. Viola Ross: 
Flewellen. 

m. 3, MRS. DR.-GERDINE. 



472 



WILLIAMS RUTHERFORD m. LAURA B. COBB. 

Came from Milledgeville, 1834. 

1— JOHN C. m. Elizabeth King: 

Bessie m. Vassar Woolley; Lamar ra. 

Andrew A. Lipscomb; Katherine. 
2— ELIZA, d. 
3 — MARY ANN m. Franlc A. Lipscomb: 

Blanche m. Wm. D. Ellis; Francis A.; 

W. Rutherford m. Margaret Talmadge. 
4— MILDRED L. 
5— BESSIE m. George A. Mell: 

Annie Laurie; Mildred; Rutherford, d. ; 

Mary Ann, d. 
6 — LAURA m. J. C. Hutchins: 

Williams R.; Lydia; Laura Cobb; 

Joshua C. 

THOMAS STANLEY married ELLEN RAMSEY. 

Came to Athens in 1820. 

1— WILLIAM A., d. 

2— MARCELLUS m. Julia Pope: 

Sallie; Thomas P. m. Margaret Morton. 
3— THOMAS C. m. Fredonia Blackman: 

Emmett; Ellen D.; Martha; Henry N.; 

Emma. 
4— EMMA L. m. Dr. H. S. Wimbish: 

Mary H.; John; Ellen; Emma; Fannie; 

Adelaide; William A., d. 
5— ELOISE, d. 
6— OCTAVIUS H., d. 
7— AUGUSTIN O. m. LiRy Dowdell: 

James D. ; Augustin; Caroline; Ellen; 

Elizabeth. 
8— JLTLIUS A. m. : 

Paul; Mildred. 



473 



PLEASANT A. STOVALL m. 1, LOUISA LUCAS, 2 
ANNA TRIPPE. 

Came from Augusta, 1844. 

1— MARCELLUS A. ra. 1, Sarah McKinney, 2, Anna 
G. Peck: 

Henry L., d. ; Anna m. Mr. Hardwick: 
Louisa, d.; John; Anna G.; Marcellus 
A.; Courtney, d. 

2 — E'LIZABETH m. Wm. E. Bearing, q. v. 

3— CICELIA 'L. m. Charles T. Shellman: 

Pleasant S. m. Leila Dallas; Clio E.; 
Robert M.; Cliarles T.; Cicelia, d.; Mar- 
cellus, d.; John, d. ; Ellen, d.; Maggie 
C; Thomas, d. 

4 — THOMAS P. m. Volumnia Cooper: 

Effie P. m. Thomas P. Branch; Sophie, 
d.. 

5 — JOHN W. m. Eloise Edwards: 

John W. m. 1, Julia Coles, 2, Hennie Alex- 
ander; Pleasant; Clara m. Mr. Tjier; 
Eloise, d.; George M. m. L. Cushman; 
Thomas P.; Marcellus; Nita. 

<o — ROLLING A. m. Mattie Wilson: 

Pleasant A. m. Mary Ganahl; Jeaiinie m. 
R. Toombs DuBose; Erwin W., d.; Liz- 
zie D. m. R. W. Lamkin; Nellie G. m. 
Billups Phinizy; Boiling A., d.; Verner 
M., d.; Harvey G. 

7— JOSEPH H., d. 

8— ELLEN m. James H. Whitner: 

James H.; Pleasant S., d.; Joseph; Eliza- 
beth. 

9— ANNA P., d. 

10— GEORGE T., d. 

11— ALONZO C, d. 



474 

12— FRANCIS M. m. Jessie Craig 
m. 3, MRS. CLIO HILL. 

JOHN TALMADGE married EMILY CONGER. 

Came from Clarke County, 1820. 

1— STEPHEN m. Miss Conger. 
2— WILLIAM A. m. Sarah Young: 

Clovis G. m. 1, Virginia McDowell, 2, 
Mary Bishop; Myra m. Julius Cohen; 

John E. m. Lizzie Dorsey, q. v.; Bessie 

m. 1, James P. Dorsey, q. v., 2, C. K. Col' 

lins. 
C— HENRY m. Miss Hall. 
4— ELIZABETH m. Geo. Mygatt: 

Joseph m. Miss Booth. 
5— ALBERT m. C. Slaughter. 

ROBERT TAYLOR married MRS. BERRIEN, rm 
DELONEY. 

1 — JAMES m. Miss Jones: 

Robert; Hattle m. Dr. Alexander; James 
2— RICHARD D. B. m. 1, Jane Billups: 

Susie m. Fred B. Lucas, 
m. 2, Kate McKinley: 

Katie R. m. Edward Treanor. 
3— ROBERT m. Tallulah Harris: 

Hugh N. m. Katie Hall; Robert G. m 

Miss Twiggs. 

STEVENS THOMAS married 1, ELIZA CARY. 
Came from Oglethorpe County, 1805. 

1 — PAULINE m. Sampson W. Harris, q. v. 
2— STEVENS m. Isabella Hayes, q. r. 
3— FRANCES m. George Dent: 



475 



Eliza m. 1, Lucien Dawson, 2, Barnard 
Bee; Alexander T.; Stevens T.; John 
G., d.; Malcolm, d.. 

4— JAMES DUDLEY m. Sarah Billups: 

Robert T.; James D. m. Miss Fort; Ed- 
ward S., d. 
m. 2, PENINAH JORDAN. 

5 — ANNA m. Henry Hull q. r. 

£— ROBERT, d. 

7— MARY m. Thomas Saffold: 
Marion, d. 

8- -JOHN J. m. Claude McKinley: 

Antoinette, d.; Claude m. Henry McAl- 
pin; Frank, d. 

9— BATAVIA m. Charles J. Clinch: 

Nellie; Charles; Alex Stewart; Rob- 
ert T. 

STEVENS THOMAS married ISABELLA HAYES. 

1— PAULINE m. W. H. Adams. 

2— LUCY m. Carlton Hillyer, q. v. 

3 — WILLIAM W. m. Pamela Brown: 

Gertrude, d.; Isabelle m. Richard John- 
ston; Alice, d.; Fanny, d. 

4 — MINNIE m. Howard Van Epps: 
Minnie; George. 

5— ALICE m. J. H. Fleming: 

Joseph H.; Isabelle; Lucy. 

G— GEORGE D. m. Katie Morton: 

Rosina; Isabella; Marguerite; Minnie. 

7— STEVENS, d. 

MOSES WADDELL m. ELIZA W. PLEASANTS. 

Came from South Carolina, 1819. 

1— JAMES P. m. Frances W. Hull: 

Ann Pleasants, d.; William Henry m. 



476 

Mrs. Mary B. Tew; James, d.; Moses, d. ; 

Bessie. 
2— ISAAC WATTS m. Sarah Daniel: 

James D. m. Medora Sparks; Elizabeth 

P. m. Mr. Stetze; Mary m. R. P. Lester; 

John O. m. Ella C. Peck; Isaac W. m. G. 

Blackwell. 
3— WILLIAM W. m. 'Louisa M. Hilliard: 

Mary L. m. Mr. Moss; Rosa m. Mr. 

Moss; Wooddie, d. 
4 — SARAH E. m. Edmund Atkinson: 

Camden; Alexander; Edmund; Elias R. ; 

Satilla m. Wm. P. Rembert; Constance 

m. Dr. Jelks. 
5— MARY A. m. J. O. Duvall: 

Eliza m. Judge Gillis; Sarah; Lucretia; 

Mary; Anna; John, James, d. 
6— JOHN NEWTON m. 1, Martha Robertson, 2, Mary 
A. Werden, 3, Mrs. Harriet Snedecor: 

Mary R. m. James D. West; Elizabeth 

m. C. Y. Thompson; George R. m. F. 

Branson; Jonn N., d.; James P., d.; Isaac 

W., d. 

NICHOLAS WARE married 1, MISS RANDOLPH, 2. 
SUSAN CARR. 

Came from Augusta, 1823. 

1 — ROBERT m. Margaret Ellison: 

Jane m. P. M. Martin; Nicholas, d.; 

Susan m. J. L. Ware; James, d.; Mary 

m. Dr. Willis; Margaret m. W. R. Bedell; 

Robert m. M. Cushman; William, d. 
2— THOMAS m. Ophelia Pace. 
3— MARY ANN m. Walter Veitch. 



477 

4 — SUSAN m. Francis Epps: 

Thomas J. m. 1, Emily Bancroft, 2, Au- 
gusta Kollock. 

5— NICHOLAS m. C. Walton. 

6— RICHARD H., d. 

7— VIRGINIA m. Dr. Wm. Head: 

Susan m. Mr. Pappy; Charles, d.; Vir- 
gfiTia ; Oscar. 

S— FRANCES, d. 

EDWARD R. WARE married MARGARET BACON. 

Came from Augusta, 1828. 

1— MARY E. m. L. H. Charbonnier: 

Harry; Edward W. m. Newton McCraw; 

Meta m. J. F. McGowan. 
2— GRACE ARRINGTON m. Thomas Barrett: 

Thomas m. Bertha Miller; Margaret m. 

"Louis A. Dugas; Edward W. m. 1, Clara 

L. Walker, 2, Janie Y. Smith; H. Gould 

m. Mariana Tobin; Savannah m. Edward 

H. Butt. 
3— HULL, d. 
4— WILLIAM J., d. 
5— LUCY C. m. Thomas Wray. 
6— EDWARD H. m. Mrs. Hattie Nicholson: 

Margaret. 

WILLIAM WILLIAMS married REBECCA HARVEY. 

Came from Hancock County, 1817. 

1— GEORGE m. 1, Elizabeth Allen: 

William; George; Jane m. Mr. Comer; 
Rebecca m. Mr. Hill, 
m. 2, Miss Peeler. 
2— JOHN HARVEY, d. 



478 



3— MILTON m. Mary Rutherford: 

Mflton, d.; Antoinette m. Mr. Howard. 
4— ALBERT m. 1, Mary J. Clark, 2, Ann Eliza Hollis: 

Alberta m. Mr. Bush; Gertrude m. Mr. 

Harrison; Anna. 
5— SARAH m. B. W. Sanford: 

John, d.; Rebecca m. Mr. Jackson; 

Melinda. 
6— NARCISSA m. Charles F. McCay: 

Robert, d.; Charles, d.; Marie; Julia m. 

W. M. Buchanan; H. Kent; Harvey. 
7— WILLIAM hi. Ruth Bell: 

Charles; Andrew; Mary m. Mr. Dickson; 

William; Robert. 
8 — MARTHA A. m. Andrew Baxter, q. v. 
9 — MARY m. Wm. Louis Jones: 

Rosa; Louis H. m. Sallie Harris; Alex 

R. m. Sue Thomas; Joseph, d.; Percy. 
10— WFLEY, d. 
11— ANDREW m. Mary Moon: 

Andrew; Emma; Mary; Rosa; Julia. 

JOHN WHITE married JANE RICHARDS. 
Came from Ireland in 1833. 

1 — JAMES m. Julia Ashton: 

Rosina m. W. F. Bradshaw; Julia, d ; 

James. 
iJ— ROSINA m. William J. Morton, q. v. 
3— MARGARET m. Wm. P. Welch: 

John W. 
4— JOHN R. m. Lily Paine: 

John; Hugh; Robert; Sallie Fannv 



Some Marriages of Athens People 

Gathered from Various Sources 

1828. 

Henry C. Lea to Serena Rootes, August 26. 
Edmund Atkinson to Sarah E. Waddell, Nov. 18. 
William L. Mitchell to Sarah Neisler, Dec. 23. 

1829. 
Walker Veitch to Mary Ann Ware, Jan. 15. 
Sidney K. Reaves to Caroline Nicholson, July 23. 

1830. 
William W. Waddell to 'Louisa Hilliard, Feb. 17. 
Edward R. Ware to Margaret Bacon, April 12. 
Hugh W. Nesbit to Mary W. Harris, April 21. 
John Crawford to Sarah E. Bass, July 27. 
William Dougherty to Acsa Turner, August 17. 
George R. Clayton to Ann Harris, Oct. 7. 

1831. 
James M. Smythe to Jane N. Harris, April 20. 
Thomas Wray to Theodosia Cardwell, September 1. 
Junius Hillyer to Mrs. Jane Foster, October 5. 

1835. 
Charles Wallace Howard to Jett Thomas, April 30. 
Howell Cobb to Mary Ann Lamar, May 26. 
John Gilleland to Jerusha Venable, October 1. 
Giles Mitchell to Sarah E. Long, Oct. 12. 
Henry W. Todd to Emily Watkins, Oct. 20. 
Joseph W. Billups to Mary Ann Daniel, Dec. 15. 

1836. 
John T. Dearing to Emma F. Stone, March 24. 
Thos. H. Harden to Margaret A. Dearing, March 24. 
George Dent to Francis E. Thomas, June 2. 
Robert Iverson to Francis E. Neisler, June 7. 
Paul J. Semmes to Emily J. Hemphill, June 14. 
Stevens Thomas to Isabella L. Hayes, June 20. 



480 



1837. 

Robert B. Alexander to Anna Maria Harris, April 4. 

Jotin W. Lumpliin to Ann Jameson, April 23. 

Joseph C. Williins to Mary Elizabeth Grant, June 
25. 

William E. Bearing to Caroline E. Stovall, June 27. 

James Shannon to Prances E. Moore, June 28. 

Barzillai Graves to Sarah M. Goneke, July "to. 

Edward P. Harden to Sarah Brown, Sept. 28. 

Joseph B. Cobb to Almira D. Clayton, October 5. 

David A. Vason to Cordelia A. Pope, November o. 

James Watkins Harris to Anna Hamilton, Novem- 
ber 8. 

Jacob Phinizy to Mrs. Sarah Meriwether, Novem- 
ber 30. 

Shaler G. Hillyer to Elizabeth J. Thompson, De- 
cember 1. 

Charles B. Lyle to Julia Carlton, December 12. 

Wilson E. B. Whatley to Elizabeth W. Lumpkin, 
December 15. 

Lewis M. Fowler to Elizabeth A. Conger. December 
20. 

1838. 

Greensby Wetherford Barber to Frances Barber, 
January 8. 

Joseph F. Morton to Mildred Mathews, March 18 

James Dudley Thomas to Sarah Billups, August 7. 

Patrick H. Shields to Mary Lumpkin, Sept. 25. 

Watkins Baynon to Jane Bryan, Nov. 7. 

David C. Barrow to Sarah Elizabeth Pope, Nov. 23. 

W. H. H. White to Jemima Simpson, Nov. 12. 

Hugh M. Neisler to Caroline Howard, November 28. 

William S. Hemphill to Sarah Fowler, December 
20. 

1839. 
Edward P. Clayton to Mary E. Bradford, March 4. 



481 



William L. C. Gerdine to 'Lucy Lumpkin, March 28. 

Samuel Tenney to Sarah M. Colt, April 9. 

Chas. M. Reese to Elizabeth W. Gerdine, May 6. 

Dr. Hugh O'K. Nesbit to Martha D. Berrien, June 
23. 

Patrick Barry to Charlotte M. McDermott, October 
26. 

Calvin J. Fall to Sarah Stroud, Nov. 21. 

Peter E. Lowe to Martha Stroud, Nov. 21. 
1840. 

Benjamin F. Whitner to Sarah Jane Church, Jan. 7. 

Thomas Moore to Martha H. Jackson, April 2. 

John S. 'Linton to Cordelia Golding, May 14. 

Shelton P. Sanford to Maria F. Dickinson, July 30. 

James M. Royal to Frances E. Rumney, Aug. 9. 

Charles F. McCay to Narcissa Williams, Aug. 11. 

Francis B. Baldwin to Julia Clayton, Nov. 19. 
1841. 

Thomas M. Meriwether to Henrietta L. Andrews, 
August 11. 

Benj. C. Yancey to Laura M. Hines, July 20. 

William H. Lee to Elvira A. Church, Feb. 18. 

William T. Baldwin to Susan M. Harris, March 3. 

Williams Rutherford to Laura B. Cobb, March 23. 

Green L. McCleskey to Ceorgiana Washburn, July 
21'. 

Thomas H. Yarbrough to Emily Varnum, Oct. 19. 

Lucius J. Gartrell to Louisiana O. Gideon, Nov. 10. 

Frank Baldwin to Julia S. Clayton, Nov. 19. 

Leonidas Franklin to Myrtis Thomas, Nov. 24. 

William P. Rembert to Victoria L. Cox, Dec. 14. 

Andrew J. Lamar to Mary Athena Jackson, Dec. 
22. 

1842. 

Edward R. Hodgson to Anna Bishop, Jan. 18. 

.-lenry L. Brittain to Julia A. Wright, Januaiy 20. 



482 

William P. Talmadge to Elizabeth A. Royal, March 
17. 

Isaac M. Kenney to Sarah A. Richardson, March 20. 

Luther J. Glenn to Mildred L. Cobb, April 27. 

Benjamin F. Hardeman to Arabella R. Harris, May 
31. 

Benjamin Conley to Sarah Semmes, June 7. 

Marcellus C. M. Hammond to Harriet Davis, July 
12. 

Asa M. Jackson to Evaline R. J. Harden, Sepi. 15. 

James R. Stevenson to Catharine Brockman, Sept. 
27. 

James J. Taylor to Jane H. Burke, Dec. 15. 
1843. 

George A. Croom to Julia M. Church, February 21. 
^ Zachariah Ivy to Elizabeth McCleskey, March 19. 

John J. Gresham to Mary E. Baxter, May 2{\ 

Lewis Craig to Elizabeth Church June 8. 

Louis 'LeConte to Harriet Ni'sbet, July 25. 

James S. Hamilton to Rebecca A. Crawford, Sep*. 
26. 

W. H. Felton to Mary A. Carlton. Nov. 21. 

Joseph B. Carlton to Thene E. Moore, Nov. 21. 
1844. 

Thomas R. R. Cobb to Marion McH. Lumpkin, Jan- 
uary 9. 
,^ Henry R. Jackson to Cornelia A. Davenport, Feb- 
ruary 1. 

Lewis J. Lampkin to Lucy Hayes, May 27. 

Joel Huggins to Caroline V. Moore, June IS. 

Henry Hull, Jr., to Ann M. Thomas, October 9. 

Albin P. Dearing to Eugenia E. Hamilton, Nov. 21. 

William H. Lampkin to Susan C. Moon, Dec. 5. 
1845. 

F. W. Pickens to Marion A. Dearing, January 9. 

Pleasant A. Stovall to Mrs. Clio Hill, Feb. 11. 



483 



John R. Matthews to Catherine Matthews, March 2. 

Montgomery P. WingQeld to Mary E. Singleton, 
April 2. 

Dr. William Bacon Stevens to Frances Coppee. 

Alvan Ewing to Louisa Newton, May 7. 

John Howze to Claudia Clayton, October 1. 

William H. Thurmond to Marie L. Harden, Oct. 6. 

John H. Colt to Caroline A. Green, Nov. 19. 

M. J. Clancey to Mary A. Jones, November 18. 

Benjamin H. Hill to Caroline E. Holt. Nov. 27. 

Napoleon B. Harden to Mary L. Appling, Dec. 2. 
1846. 

Thomas P. Stovall to Volmunia A. Cooper, Jan. 15. 

Andrew Baxter to Martha Williams, January 28. 

John M. Billups to Sarah M. Phinizy, February 4. 

Wm. H. Newton to Miriam K. Walker, April 21. 

William C. Yoakum to Sophia Conger, April 20. 

William T. Bailey to Elizabeth Winstead, April 30. 

Frederick W. 'iLiUcas to Martha A. Singleton, May 
27. 

Rev. G. J. Pearce to Eliza A. Glenn, June 2. 

Perrin Benson to Louisa F. Towns, July 19. 

Capt. M. L. Smith to Sarah E. Nisbet, July 27. 

Capt. N. W. Hunter to Sarah R. Golding, Aug. 18. 

Benjamin C. Yancey to Sarah P. Hamilton, Nov. 4. 

Henry Hull to Mary A. Nisbet, Nov. 12. 
1847. 

John N. Bonnell to Mary Ann Morton, Jan. 30. 

Terrell M. Lampkin to America Adams, April 15. 

H. R. J. Long to Susan J. Stroud, May 26. 

S. C. Reese to Caroline M. Harden, Sept. 9. 

Dan G. Hughes to Mary H. Moore, October 20. 

Joel Abbott Billups to Susan Harris, November 4. 

Robert Moore to Catherine Kirkpatrick, Nov. 16. 
,1848. 

Rufus L. Moss to Mary L. Anthony, August 8 



^84 



1849. 
Benjamin J. Parr to Sarah C. Sisson, February 12. 
David Gann to Malinda Lee, June 10. 
James Gallaway to Ann N. Doble, November 15. 
John S. Linton to Lucy Ann Hull, December 18. 

1850. 
Hopkins Holsey to Mary J. Neisler, August 15. 
Charles W. 'Lane to Louisa Matthews, December 2. 

1851. 
Charles B. Lombard to Julia E. Kellogg, April 6. 
John S. Wiggins to Sarah L. Morton, May 6. 
William King, Jr., to Augusta C. Clayton, Oct. 8. 
Robert G. Taylor to Tallulah Harris, October 23. 
M. C. Fulton to Virginia F. Hamilton, November 4. 
N. W. Haudrup to Sarah Bridges, December 30. 

1852. 
Porter King to Callie M. Lumpkin, February 19. 
John C. Pitner to Sarah C. Weir, October 19. 
John W. Nicholson to Martha M. Gartrell, Nov. 18. 

1853. 
James Jackson to Ada Mitchell, June 24. 
John J. Thomas to Claudia F. McKinley, August 25. 
John C. Whitner to Mattie S. Cobb, September 28. 
Nathaniel L. Barnard to Fannie E. Dougherty, Oc- 
tober 5. 

Richard D. B. Taylor to Sarah Jane Billups, Oct. G. 
William B. Jackson to Mary Willis Adams, Oct. 13. 
John B. Cobb to Mary Athena Lamar, November 22. 
Jonathan Hampton to Eliza A. Hayes, December 14. 
Robert McCay to Susan L. Wiley, December 21. 

1854. 
Rufus L. Moss to Lizzie Luckie, April 6. 
William G. Deloney to Rosa E. Huguenin, May 16. 
William E. Eppes to Emily Bancroft, July 27. 
.lames A. Carlton to Mattie C. Janes, August 23. 
Thomas W. Walker to Julia M. Adams, Oct. 23. 



485 



M. Stanley to Julia A. Pope, November 8. 
William L. Mitchell to 'Lucia L. Bass, November 21. 

1855. 
Charles K. Jarrett to Lizzie Lucas, Jan. 17. 
Charles P. Cooper to Hessie M. Jackson, April 2. 
John M. Phinizy to Sue Morton, June 14. 
J. N. Carter to Laura A. Clarke, September 6. 
James C. Wilson to Maria Stovall, Nov. 27. 
Jerry E. Ritch to Jane M. Alexander, December 13. 
Edward P. Bishop to Martha M. Bingham, Dec. 13. 

1856. 
Warren A. Brown to Louisa C. Hoyt, January 2. 
Richard J. Wilson to Mary Virginia Harris, Jan. 9. 
R. L. Witherspoon to Mary C. Boon, February 5. 
A. G. Turner to Francis A. Conger, February 20. 
William A. Bain to Mary Ann DeCosta, Sept. 18. 
Henry Buesse to Menecies Evans, Nov. 6. 
John G. Thomas to Susan A. Carr, November 12. 
H. J. Adams to Flora N. Williamson, December 17. 

1857. 
Charles J. Clinch to Ella B. Thomas, May 12. 
F. W. Adams to Emma E. Barnett, July 22. 
W. M. Morton to Martha A. Lester, September 2S. 
John D. Easter to Fanny Coley, October 29| 
Dunlap Scott to Virginia Wray, November 26. 
James M. Hull to Georgia A. Rucker, December 8. 

1858. 
Joseph A. Hill to Mary E. Maxwell, October 14. 
Edward S. Axson to Margaret Jane Hoyt, Nov. 16. 
Albert S. Dorsey to Susan R. Doble, November 23. 
Benjamin F. Whitner to Anna P. Church, Dec. 21. 

1859. 
Ellison Stone to Mary McKenzie, March 3. 
Jos. M. Weatherly to Mary Vanderhost, May 5. 
William G. Noble to Augusta Hill, June 23. 
E. C. Kinnebrew to Georgia A. Lyle, August 4: 



486 



C. P. Morton to Anna Crane, December 15. 

1860. 
Samuel P. Thurmond to Elizabeth A. Long, Jan. 3. 
James Robb to Mrs. Elizabeth C. Craig, March 6. 
James R. Lyle to Clara M. Bailey, May 17. 
James H. Reaves to Ophelia G. Elder. 
William J. Morton to Rosina E. White, Sept. 11. 
Thomas Crawford to Julia E. Hayes, December 12. 

1861. 
A. B. C. Dorsey to Salonia Gilmore, Februaiy 21. 
T. A. Adams to Adeline Sisson, Api'il 17. 
G. W. Barber to Marj T. Conger, May 16. 
H. D. D. Twiggs to Lucy E. Wilkins, May 21. 
Jesse Youngkin to Martha A. Weir, June 4. 
Robert W. Adams to Sophie L. Bronard, June 18. 
Jefferson Lamar to Mary A. Lamar, July 22. 
Asbury Hull to Mrs. Maria Cook, July 23. 
Lamar Cobb to Olivia Newton. July 30. 

1862. 
M. H. Henderson to Ada Screven, January 30. 
Peyton E. Thompson to Ophelia Crane, Dec. 11. 

1863. 
C. A. Styles to Anna M. Adams, January 13. 
George Whitfield to Mary Hillyer, February 9. 
I. W. Hallam to Lizzie Bancroft, April 24. 
John A. Cobb to Lucy Barrow, July 29. 

1864. 
Amos T. Akerman to Martha R. Galloway, May 28. 
W. P. Patillo to Sallie P. Chase, July 21. 
J. H. Laing to Caroline Witherspoon, October 9. 
C. P. McAllister to Charlotte Almand, December 1. 

1865. 
James S. King to Sallie C. Boggs, October 26. 

1866. 
George A. Carlton to Allie McConnell, March 20. 
C. W. Motes to Emily F. White, June 14. 



487 

1867. 

Henry Jackson to Sally A. Cobb, April 23. 

S. M. Herrington to Mattie F. Huggins, Nov. 7. 

H. H. Carlton to Helen C. Newton, November 12. 

1868. 
James P. Dorsey to Bessie Talmadge, February 27. 
Josiah Jones to Rosalie Meeker, June 2. 
Thomas F. Green to Ella B. Lipscomb, Sept. 18. 

1869. 
Frank A. Lipscomb to Mary Ann Rutherford, Jan. 
14. 

William L. Church to Laura Randolph, April 6. 

A. A. F. Hill to Gazzie Williams, June 16. 

Rufus K. Reaves to Anna B. Powell, November IS. 

1870. 
William H. Hodgson to Maria Kennard, January 5, 
E. R. Hodgson to Mary V. Strahan, January 3. 
J. A. Hunnicutt to Mary 'L. Deupree, February 22. 
John Bird to Lula Norris, November 18. 

1871. 
A. L. Hull to Callie Cobb, January 5. 
Wm. A. Hemphill to Mrs. E. B. Luckie, March 7. 
John W. Brumby to Arabella Hardeman, June 29. 
Daniel McKenzie to Martha Pulliam, April 20. 
R. H. Johnston to Susie Hill, April 20. 
George C. Thomas to Anna McWhorter, April 27. 
Jos. G. Evans to 'Lizzie Kirkpatrick, May 4. 
John W. McCalla to Francina Deupree, May 16. 
Hines M. Smith to Sallie Sparks, May 17. 
W. H. Morton to Cora Frazer,, .June 11. 
Jeff Lane to Marion Reese, July 26. 
Henry W. Grady to Julia King, October 5. 
James M. Edwards to Lizzie Scudder, November 8. 
Thomas A. Hamilton to Amelia Tupper, Nov. 14. 
Victor M. Smith to Saida Bird, November 16. 
E. J. Christy to Hattie Gailey, December 7. 



488 



1872. 
Geo. T. Goetchius to Julia A. Scuddei', February 8. 
Alex S. Erwin to Mary Ann Cobb, April 3. 
E. Seabrook Hull to Ella Eddings, July 10. 
W. C. Kemp to Mrs. Jane E. Doyle, July 15. 
Robert B. Hodgson to Annie Strahan, September 23. 
A. H. Hodgson to Julia Neal, September 25. 
Goodloe H. Yancey to Lucy Deu'pree, September 26. 
Rufus S. Cleghorn to Eliza Hutcheson, November ', 
Geo. W. Mason to Beulah Booth, November 14. 
A. T. Smith to Fannie Hoover, December 4. 
H. C. White to Ella P. Roberts, December 24. 
C. W. Parr to Jennie Mealor, December 26. 

1873. 
Howard Van Epps to Minnie Thomas, February 13. 
Edw. A. Williams to Sallie Hamilton, March 5. 
Henry C. Bussey to Lizzie Lucas, June 24. 
Geo. P. Raney to Lizzie Lamar, November 4 
Henry Hill to Julia Burpee, November 26. 
E. H. Ware to Mrs. Hattie P. Nicholson, Novem- 
ber 27. 

W. B. Jackson to Naomi Langford, December 17. 

1-874. 
Chas. J. O'Farrell to Rosa England, February 11. 
Frank 'Lumpkin to Kate DeW. Willcox, February 14. 
Myer Stern to Rachel Michael, February 15. 
Carlton Hillyer to Lucy C. Thomas, February 18. 
Geo. T. Murrell to Leila W. Morton, February 19. 
Cobb Lampkin to Mamie Arnold, March 11. 
Hamilton Yancey to Florence Patterson, April 29. 
Alfred T. Luckie to Lizzie Alexander, April 30. 
Bourke Spalding to Nellie P. Barrow, November 3. 
Jos. li. Palmer to Florence Huggins, December 23. 

1875. 
Wm. P. Welch to Margaret R. White, January 26. 



489 



P. H. Mell to Annie White, June 13. 

Geo. D. Bancroft to Jessie Winltler, June 15. 

Charles M. Reese to Vada Bostwick, July 28. 

Robert K. Bloomfield to Coi'nelia O. Bancroft, Octo- 
ber 5. 

J. H. Dorsey to Sallie Chappie, November 9. 

W. Henry Wells to Rosa P. Smith, December 9. 

S. P. Parker to Belle O'Farrell, December 15. 

John A. Moore to Mary O. Hull, December 15. 

W. L. Wood to Celestia Epps, December 27. 
1876. 

F. B. Lucas to Susie Taylor, March 29. 

T. W. Rucker to Sarah Cobb, September 27. 

J. L. Burch to Mary E. Evans, October 5. 

Dawson Williams to Maggie Callaway, October 19. 

James B. Conyers to Lizzie B. Newton, October 26. 

Vivian Fleming to Emily White, December 19. 
1877. 

J. A. Grant to 'Laura Vonderleith, January 24. 

J. A. Munday to Rosa Beusse, March 20. 

W. D. Griffeth to Marcella Dearing, April 10. 

Joseph C. Mygatt to Lizzie Booth, May 9. 

Frank Talmage to Ella Powell, May 12. 

Z. B. Graves to Ida Ritch, May 16. 

A. W. Calhoun to Louise Phinizy, September 26. 

James U. Jackson to Minnie Falligant, Novem- 
ber 7. 

Geo. W. Calvin to Amy Beusse, November 29. 

W. A. Carlton to Annie Price, December 11. 

J. H. Towns to Alice Eaton, December 16. 

Ellison D. Stone to Emma C. Bradford, Decem- 
ber 20. 

1878. 

C. K. Collins to Mrs. Bessie Dorsey, January 24. 

W. W. Thomas to Pamela Brown, February 11. 

S. C. Williams to Jane Reese, June 16. 



490 



A. C. Lampkin to Anna Vincent, September 10. 
C. W. Asbury to Ada Huggins, October 10. 
Charles L. Bartlett to Leila Carlton. 

C. D. McKie to Julia Hampton, November 14. 
Theo Vonderleith to Mamie Lee, December 11. 

T. C. Compton to Martha Lumpkin, December 19. 
1879. 

D. C. Barrow to Fannie L Childs, February 5. 
J. H. Lambert to Annie Galloway, June 12. 
Macon C. Johnson to Mamie Carlton, June 17. 
C. L. Pitner to 'Lillian Colbert, September 7. 

E. L Smith to Sallie Lucas, November 12. 

1880. 

C. W. Davis to Emma Vonderlieth, January 7. 
T. C. Newton to Sallie Moss, February 5. 
Andrew J. Cobb to Starke Campbell, March 31. 
Henry A. Lucas to Lula Baynon, April 22. 

R. N. Snead to Emma Hutcheson, June 9. 
Kobt. J. Smith to Belle Hutcheson, August 8. 
Edw. V. Branham to Julia Billups, October 7. 
R. Toombs DuBose to Jennie Stovall, December 15. 
N. B. Carson to Willie Woodfin, December 15. 

1881. 
Joseph W. Woods to Emma Conger, January 6. 
R. L Hampton to Beville Comer, January 11. 

D. M. Burns to Mary Taylor, January 18. 
Stephen Gould to Mary E. Long, January 20. 
A. A. McDuffie to Julia Reese, February 29. 
J. F. Jackson to Millie Vincent, February 29. 
J. S. Noland to Mattie R. LeSeur, May 5. 

E. F. Gates to Lula Nevitt, June 1. 

S. C. Benedict to Annie Bloomfield, July 27. 
Selig Bernstein to Jennie Michael, August 10. 
Edward Bancroft to Lucy Epps, August 22. 
John T. Newton to Kittle L. Childs, October 15. 
James S. Davant to Ethel Hamilton, November 2. 



491 



1882. 

E. P. Eberhart to Ann Mitchell, January 3. 
A. D. Smith to Mary Mell, January 5. 
James T. Newton to Lucy Flewellen, February 16. 
Simon Michael to Anna Philips, March 14. 
T. J. Barnard to Mary F. Woodfin, May 31. 
W. H. Steele to Fannie Newton, September 21. 
N. Keff Smith to Carrie Scudder, October 4. 
R. H. Coi-nwell to Lila Fleming, October 11. 
Geo. P. Brightwell to Clara Talmage, November 16. 
L. H. Jones to Sallie Harris, December 6. 
W. M. Howard to Gussie C. King, December 13. 
Bernard Franklin to Isabella V. Harris, Decem- 
ber 20. 

1883. 
G. S. Shewell to Ida Phillips, February 22. 
L. E. Bailey to Martha J. Thornton, March 22. 
J. A. Harbin to Mattie McDorman, March 29. 
G. H. Hulme to Willie Matthews, May 3. 
J. N. Webb to Susie A. Pitner, May 16. 
Robert W. Lamkin to Lizzie Stovall, June 5. 
John Hope Hull to Rosa Deloney, June 6. 
Geo. D. Thomas to Katie Morton, July 11. 
J. C. Hutchins to Lollie Rutherford, October 9. 
J. T. Brown to Julia Barber, October 30. 
R. E. Shaw to Lina Smith, November 13. 
Hoke Smith to Birdie Cobb, December 19. 

1884. 
Wm. Haddock to Sarah Hemphill, January 31. 
J. F. Rhodes to Anna Reaves, February 18. 
A. H. Davison to Tda Dorsey, June 12. 
.lames McKimmon to Leila Hull, June 24. 
Pope Barrow to Cornelia Jackson, June 25. 
T. C. Hampton to Viola Skiff, July 15. 
Wm. I. Sims to Annie Noble, August 21. 
G. A. Mell to Bessie Rutherford, September 4. 



492 



John W. Gilleland to Mary F. Heard, October 30 

1885. 
Pleasant A. Stovall to Mary Ganahl, January 7. 
G. W. Rush to Lizzie Eberhart, January 14. 
Geo. W. Woodfin to Nela Rowland, June 16. 
J. H. Fleming to Alice Thomas, June 24. 

C. H. Phinizy to Mrs. Mary 'Lou Phinizy, July 28. 
Francis Fontaine to Nathalie Hamilton, October 28 
Henry McAlpin to Claudia Thomas, November 18. 

1886. 
Billups Phinizy to Nellie Stovall, April 21. 
W. F. Dorsey to Cassie Beusse, July 14. 
R. B. Lawrence to Marion Bearing, August 25. 

D. W. Meadow to Susie A. Colbert, October 3. 
A. W. Vess to Nina Bain, October 6. 

E. D. Treanor to Katie Taylor, November 24. 
C. D. Flanigen to Mamie Nevitt, December 13. 
Vassar Woolley to Bessie Rutherford, December 21. 

1887. 
A. E. Griffeth to Belle Jenkens, June 22. 
John W. Wier to Mrs. Annie Gann, August 3. 
Edward A. Groover to Lena Latimer, November 16. 
Henry S. West to Marion Lampkin, November 30. 
Hunter P. Cooper to Henrietta Tucker, Decem_ 
ber 8. 

1888. 
George E. Stone to Hettie Bishop, January 17. 
I. G. Swift to Bessie Thurmond, January 19. 
W. S. Christy to Minnie Kenney, January 25. 
W. P. Briggs to Annie Beusse, April 24. 
H. N. Willcox to Mary Nicholson, May 9. 
J. S. Williford to Kate Moore, July 5. 
A. D. Cheney to Mary Elder, October 16. 
W. C. Davis to Olivia Cobb, November 21. 
A. O. Harper to Eugenia Long, December 6. 



493 



1889. 

H. Key Milner to Helen Bishop, February 14. 

W. J. Smith to Ida Wingfield, April 3. 

John A. Benedict to Mary Coates, October 31. 

1890. 
A. P. Henley to Mary Lou Crawford, February 13. 
S. G'. McLendon to Emily Hamilton, February 19. 
M. K. Layton to Mollie Dobbs, April 23. 
Fred S. Morton to Roberta Latimer, July 9. 
R. C. Orr to Florida Carr, July 15. 
A. 'L. Franklin to Leila Chandler, December 2. 
G. F. Hunnicutt to May Bernard, December 10. 
Clarence O. Adams to Alice Beusse, December 17. 
Geo. A. Riviere to Ruby Thurmond, December 23. 

189^ 
Frank J. Myers to Sophie Stern, January 28. 
Charles M. Snelling to Matilda Morton, June 18. 
W. A. Kennon to Mattie Grady, June 25. 
A. A. Lipscomb to Lamar Rutherford, August 19. 
J. N. Williamson to Kate Wingfield, September 23. 

1892. 
C. A. Rowland to Effie Hampton, May 12. 
C. G. Talmadge to Mary C. Bishop, May 23. 
A. H. Hodgson to Sallie Paine, August 10. 
H. J. Swartz to Ida Ritch, August 15. 
E. J. Bondurant to Martha Moss, October 13. 
E. D. Sledge to Mary Newton Cobb, October 26. 
J. F. McGowan to Meta Charbonnier, November 9. 

1893. 
Charles H. Newton to Lula Bryan, January 11. 
W. W. Turner to Belle Lane, January 18. 
Charles I. Mell to Mary B. Dougherty, April 5. 
John A. Dearing to Jennie Duke, August 2. 
E. P. Fears to Leila Parr, September 7. 
T. W. Reed to Eunice Williams, September 20. 



494 

A. H. Allen to Mary Ella Noble, October 11. 

W. D. Ellis, Jr., to Blanche Lipscomb, October 18. 

1894. 
Aaron Cohen to Sarah Stern, January 24. 
A. E. Thornton to Bessie Cohen, April 16. 
E. W. Wade to Jessie Burbank, May 23. 
E. IngersoU Wade to Mary Magruder, June 19. 
W. R. Lipscomb to Maggie Talmadge, October 10. 
C. M. Strahan to Margaret Basinger, October 30. 
P. C. Buffiington to Pauline Harris, November 21. 
E. W. Charbonnier to Newton McCraw, Decem- 
ber 12. 

W. D. Hooper to Florence Herty, December 20. 

1895. 
W. C. Cox to Annie Hodgson, January 17. 
Henry L. Francis to Maude Talmadge, April 24. 
Charles A. Talmadge to Justine Erwin, June 6. 
R. W. Sizer to Clara L.'Lyle, July 17. 
Fred L. Davis to Mattie Barnard, September 5. 
M. M. Arnold to Lizzie Abney, November 14. 
Frank Harwell to Ruth Lovejoy, December 11. 
H. J. Rowe to Ada O'Farrell, December 18. 
C. H. Herty to Sophie Schaller, December 23. 

1896. 
J. E. Talmadge, Jr., to Olivia Bloomfield, April 29. 
H. H. Steiner to Lucile Barnes, February 23. 
C. D. Cox to Mary L. Hunter, February 26. 
L. E. Pellew to Sallie Cohen, November 4. 
Fred Morris to Katie Dorsey, November 4. 
J. W. Morton to Mary Lou Hinton, November 11. 
W. D. Christy to Ida Summey, November 11. 
E. B. Mell to Belle Witcher, December 23. 

1897. 
S. M. Herrington to Mattie Lowe, June 17. 
W. A. Delph to Nathalie Chandler, July 1. 



495 



T. A. Burke to Moselle 'Lyndon, November 10. 
W. A. Chastain to Ella V. Dobbs, November 30. 

1898. 
Nathan P. Cox to Maud A. Parker, February 9. 
E. H. Youngkin to Leona Williams, April 20. 
W. E. Love to 'Lilly Mandeville, June 6. 
Geo. S. Crane to Hallie Watkins, June 15. 
H. V. Head to Leila McMahan, October 5. 
G. H. Thornton to Lottie P. Jackson, October 26. 

1899. 
C. N. Hodgson to Irene Powell, January 1. 
W. B. Kent to Senie Griffeth, February 22. 
R. B. Nally to Daisy Hudson, June 7. 



Copyright, 1907, by A. L. Hull. 



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